Digital Take Over
by Silver Winged ShininoTenshi
Summary: It's been years since Tai and Matt have had to visit the DigiWorld to protect it, but after some odd dreams they realize that they must return to save not only the world, but their best friends. Rated T for some cussing.
1. Prolog

**Okay, I'm going to admit it: I prefer old school Digimon. 01 and 02 are my favorite, and those are really the only seasons I ever watched. I never cared too much about the tamers and I couldn't really figure out what was going on with Frontier. Please, be patient with me, the Digimon will show up in this story, this is only the prolog. **

**With any luck this will be the only place you have to put up with my chatter until the end of the story. I don't know if it's still required or not, but I do not own Digimon, or anything associated with it. Some of the characters in this story are purely mine though, one I borrowed from a friend. So please, leave any reviews you'd like on it, and if it only deserves flames… that's fine, just give advice on how to fix it as well. Thank you.**

**--Lin Renee**

**Prolog**

_It can't be. It is _not_ possible. How many years has it been? Two? Three at the max. _Matt shook his head as he thought back. Gabumon had been perfectly fine last time he'd seen his friend, so where were the dreams coming from? "What do I _do_ with the dreams?" He asked himself. He closed his eyes softly. "Gabu… is something wrong? Do you need me, buddy?" He stretched his mind out, wondering if telekinesis were even possible. Wondering if anything like what he saw on the X-men could happen.

He found himself praying that it was a possibility. He considered Gabumon his best friend and even the thought of something happening to him made him feel sick to the stomach. "Gabumon…" He called mentally. "Are you there? Gabu?" He released a soft sigh and stared towards his dark screened laptop. "Gabumon?" The screen remained blank.

He pushed long blond bangs from his face. "No… Nothing is wrong." He assured himself. _If something was wrong… _A blinking light on his cell phone caught his eye. _Tai would have called me?... _He jumped to his feet grabbing the phone up in a frenzy. He flipped the phone open, suddenly aware of how stupid he's acting because of a meaningless dream. The thought calmed his mind. He gave a short laugh. "That's it. I'm over-reacting over nothing."

Two missed calls, his phone informed. He pushed his hair back once again, taking the short moment to regain his composure. He laid back on his bed, sure the calls were just from his dad. After all, it had been two weeks since he last saw David. This summer, he'd decided, was about him bonding with his mother and seeing if he and Tai could beat the high scores at the local arcade.

"Yes, dad," he rehearsed in his mind. "I'm just fine… no need calling to check up, its not like Mom's going to let something happen to me…" He finally flipped to his missed calls.

The screen flashed, "Yagami, Taichi." Call one had been made at 1:45 a.m. Call two had been made at 2:15 a.m. Matt punched in the number for his voice mail, hopping that Tai had just been having insomnia and making random calls.

"Dude!" his voice blared. "Why aren't you answering? Matt? Something's wrong with Agumon and Gabumon. Matt, where are you? Damn it, Matt. Call me when you get this." And the tone went dead.

"Hey, Matt, this is dad…" Matt closed the phone as the old messages started to repeat back to him. His heart crashed into the pit of his stomach. He'd been right. Something was wrong.

Something was wrong and they had to return to the Digitalworld to put things right again.

This time, he would be doing it without his beloved partner by his side.

Now he and Tai had to save their friends from a destruction too horrific to fathom.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Tai paced back and forth, making Matt more nervous by the second. "Okay… we had similar dreams, right?"

Tai nodded. "Well, duh. That's the no brainer. The brainer is how do we get there now?"

Matt shrugged. "Last time we just fell into it."

"This isn't last time!"

Matt bit his lower lip to keep his mouth shut. He understood Tai's anger, he was frustrated too. He also knew that this wasn't the time for one of their trademark fights. "What about Gennai?"

"You know as well as me that the old coot isn't all there!"

Matt stood, feeling his temper pushing its limits. "Tai, listen to me. Don't get pissed at me. I haven't done a fucking thing. I'm making suggestions, and I'm every bit as concerned as you. So instead of shooting down every damn word I say make your own fucking suggestions and help. Anger isn't getting anything done!"

Tai backed down from this fight. "You're right… of course you're right… but what can we do? I don't know how to contact Gennai and I haven't been able to reach any of the other Digimon… not since…"

Matt nodded. It was something that wasn't often talked about, but no one ever forgot it either. The image of her cold, dead, body sometimes still crept into Matt's mind and made him feel ill. "I know." He resumed his seat in the oversized chair that sat beside the bookcase.

Tai began to pace again. He placed his hand on his hip, pushing his shirt up just high enough for Matt to make out a small bulge. "That's it." Matt pulled his own Digivice from his waistband. He studies its screen and buttons. "It _has_ to be it."

"What?" Tai asks, pulling his Digivice out to look at it.

"I don't know, but these are like our… powers. There has to be away to use these to get back into the Digiworld. _Has_ to be."

"Agreed. Any bright idea how?"

"I'm _working_ on it. I'm not the digital whiz kid. Give me a minute." Matt pushed buttons on the device, but all he managed to do was change the time back. He groaned, knowing it would take him at least two days for him to reset his Digivice to the correct time. He stared at the device, and noticed, for the first time, the small hole in it. "Tai, give me a GameBoy link up cord."

"What?"

"I know you have one. The cord that you stick into a GameBoy and get different stuff from people or play together or, whatever it does."

"Oh… yeah…" Tai turned and went to his room. He looked around. The room wasn't very big but it was very messy. Not much had changed since he was younger, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be seeing this place for awhile. Out of the corner of his eye he saw it. A long, skinny cord with two plugs. He grabs it and rushes back to his living room.

Matt still sat in the same seat as before, and now he held his cell phone in one hand. "I have an idea." He grinned. "Got the cord?"

"Yeah." Tai handed the cord to him.

He looked up to Tai. "I hope this works, man."

"Me too."

Matt plugged one end of the cord into his phone and the other into his Digivice. "Cross your fingers."

Tai sat, his presence radiating over the room, making Matt more nervous then when he was pacing.

Matt put the phone to his ear. "Gennai." He said. "Gennai." A grin broke across Matt's face. "It's ringing." He told Tai. "It's actually ringing."

Tai blinked. "Amazing."

"Hello? Where's Gennai? Ca-… Sto-…. No, calm down. I'm a friend. Where's Gennai?"

Matt listened intently. The voice was female. She was panicked and difficult to understand. "…gone for 3 days. Not even Shūri's here."

"Okay, calm down. Breathe. In with the good… out with the bad." He listened to her breath. She dragged in her breath nearly cried when she let it back out. "Where did he go?"

She was sniveling. "He… he said something about… getting a… a… machine fixed. He-… he said without Shūri he might not be able to-" she let out a loud cry before continuing.

"To what? Not be able to do what?"

"Get it fixed!!"

"What is it?"

"A…" she started crying again. He heard voices in the background. One of the voices came out clearer then the other.

"Oh, give me that. Hello?"

"Hello? Who is this?"

"My name is Samaphynithithanee."

"Okay, Samafayn-"

"Sam. Just stick with Sam."

"Okay, Sam. What's going on?"

She took in a deep breath.

_Oh no_, he thought, _she's going to cry._

"The monsters came back. Gennai said that there was no way we could win against them. He said that the Digitalworld needed the DigiDestined again, but the machine that he had to use to retrieve them was broken. First he went to get Shūri. Shūri can fix anything. He had been out with Andromon reprogramming something or other. When Gennai found Andromon he was told that Shūri had left hours ago on his way back home, but he never made it back. So Gennai, Andromon, myself and my sisters all went searching for him. When we found Shūri he was unconscious… honestly I thought he was dead. My older sister, the one you were talking with, said he wasn't dead, but next to it. He'd been robbed of his soul, which Gennai said was odd since he was the only human to take permanent residence in the Digitalworld. So my oldest sister took him and carried him here… and then Gennai had to find someone else to repair the machine to bring the DigiDestined here. We haven't seen him in 3 days." She swallowed hard, almost like she was bracing herself to deal a match winning blow. "And last night we got news that when Agumon and Gabumon went out to hold off the monsters they…"

"They what?"

"They were taken."

"Taken?!" Matt screamed. "What do you mean taken?!"

"The monsters! They took them! Two terrible creatures. One a vampire, a creature of the night. The other a horrible demonic creature with a wretched red mark across his chest."

"No."

"I'm sorry." The girl said. "I must go. When-"

He heard someone break in. "If."

"_When_ Gennai returns I'll tell him you called, Matt Ishida. Good-bye."

The phone went dead. Matt stared at Tai. "Gennai's trying to get us again… but his machine was broke… and it sounds like the only one that could fix it is in submission."

The girls weren't Digimon, nor were they human. They had came to this world on a search for where they belong. None said that they belonged here, but they were accepted, which was every bit as acceptable in their minds.

When they first arrived they had found an old man strolling along the beach of a lake. He had a kind, accepting smile. He would never know how close he came to being murdered that day. If it hadn't been for the boy that was playing in the water he wouldn't be here now.

They came to know the old man. His name was Gennai. Although they didn't know exactly what he did in this world they knew he held a great power. He was a kind man who you did not want to cross.

The boy they knew as Shūri. He was human in everything but intelligence. He was a mechanical genius. They didn't know too much about him, despite living with him for the past 4 years. They watched him grow and mature. At 12 he was a ball of energy and getting him to sit still for more then a minute was more difficult then fighting an entire evil army. Frankly, they preferred fighting the army. At 16 he could sit for hours working on one of his inventions, or fixing something in this world. He was tall and athletic. Long blond hair fell down his back and his eyes were pools that came from the ocean itself. No one ever spoke of his true name. Gennai once told them that he abandoned his name to forget the trouble that came with it. Apparently it had worked for him because he never spoke of his past and it never seemed to bother him.

Sam sighed as she stared at his pale figure lying motionless on the bed. She hated to think that she'd never see his eyes open again, and unless Gennai returned soon and called the DigiDestined no one would ever see them again. "It's been four days," She moaned.

The eldest woman patted her shoulder. "It's okay, sis. I like him too." Her smile was seductive and oddly sweet. "He'll come back… and if he's not back by tomorrow I'll go hunt him down myself."

"You can't." The words were flat. "Shūri isn't even digital and they took his _soul_. You _are_ digital. They could destroy you."

"Sam, no one is going to mess with this dragon. We may be digital, but we aren't of this world. We're beyond it." She grabbed Sam and stared into her eyes. "We are warriors. So, don't worry. If he's not back tomorrow _I_ can find him."

Sam smiled. "Okay, Tsumi."

"Now, let's go to bed, okay, Sammi."

She nodded. Tsumi wasn't really her sister. None of them were sisters. It was all part of a game their creators came up with. They were sisters in the fight against evil. They just adopted the word for their own means.

Flame red hair fell across the pillow softly. Her tan skin glowed in the moonlight and her ears pricked up at the low noise of an opening door. She sat up, long hair cascading down past her shoulders to her waist. She saw a short, almost blobby figure. "Gennai?" She whispered.

"Ah! Miss Ro!" He laughed. "I should have known I couldn't sneak past your keen ears. How are we holding up?"

She grinned. "Everyone's fine… except for Shūri, his condition hasn't changed… at least, not for the better. His heart… is getting slower. If we don't get his soul back soon he may actually… die. His soul is the energy source for his body. You see, the body only stores so much soul energy in it and once its all used up…" She shrugs. "Its all gone. No more human being. Luckily I'll never have to deal with that. I'm no more then a tool of entertainment."

"That's not true. You're a wonderful girl."

"Not a girl. I'm a unicorn, meant to heal the warriors."

"But you are a warrior." His smile was contagious. "You may not be human, but you have earned yourself a soul."

"What about the DigiDestined?"

"They will be here bright and early in the morning."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

They gathered around the table. The girls stared at Gennai. He gave them a wide smile. "Girls, today you shall meet the DigiDestined!"

"Oh…" Sam tilted her head to one side. "That reminds me. Matt called."

He nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll see what he wants in a minute."

"They'll bring Shūri back?"

"Hmm… That's the plan." He swept the room with his glance. "Tsumi, will you reach me my phone, dear?" The woman stood. Her muscles were evident under skin tight clothes. The purple hair swept her against her bare calves, Gennai looked to the other two girls. "I want you to help them… make them feel welcome. It's been years since they've been to this world, longer since they've been to my home."

"Yes, Gennai."

"We'll help in any way we can."

Tsumi returned with the phone. "What, are you going to call him?"

"Ideally. The person who fixed this device isn't as mechanically gifted as our Shūri is. Originally all I had to do was just open a port. Ah, now it's not so easy." He held the phone in one hand and stared at the small box. In build it looked like an ordinary phone cradle. It had two buttons, one pointing up and the other down, and a small screen that read 0. Gennai stared at his phone for a moment before he dialed in a number. "I'm assuming there were more than just Matt there when he called?"

"I believe so."

"Good!" With a smile he sat the phone in the cradle and pushed the up button until the small screen read 12.

They heard Matt's voice drift through the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello Matt!" Gennai said with glee.

"Gennai! What's going on? Where's-"

"I'll tell you in a moment." On his phone he hit a button that read 'select.'

Two yells came from the phone followed seconds later by two young men crashing onto the floor. "Gennai?"

Tai blinked. His bangs fell, covering his eyes. With a sigh he shoved his bangs back into his hair and pulled out his ponytail holder. "That's a hell a phone you have, Gennai." He pulled his hair tight and tied it into a ponytail at that back of his neck.

Gennai studied the two then frowned. "Where are the others?"

"Others?"

"Yes, the others. Joe, T.K., Davis, Kari, Sora, the other DigiDestined."

"Oh, them. Well… Joe's off at college, T.K. is staying at my dad's house, Davis is at soccer camp, Kari went off to New York to visit Mimi, not real sure about Izzy… he kind of goes off sometimes, Yolei is working at her dad's store now, Cody has actually become a Kendo champ, Ken's been touring America." Matt looked at Gennai very hard for a moment. "Can you believe that _I_ was the original musician of the DigiDestined, and _he's_ the one with the record deal?"

Tai laughed. "Go figure, huh?" He stood and stared around the small house. "Is this place still underwater?"

Tsumi folded her arms and looked to a window. "Unfortunately, yes. It is well under the stupid lake."

"Not a water fan?"

"Dragon."

"Dra-"

"What about Sora? Where is Sora?" Gennai asked.

Tai and Matt looked to one another. "She…" Matt shook his head, unable to talk about it.

Tai went to Gennai and stared him in the eyes. "Didn't you hear? Sora… died. She went to a party with me and Matt. We left but she wanted to stay. Everyday since then I've felt bad about leaving her. We should have made her come, but we didn't."

"The police report said that she pulled out onto the road and a driver hit her. A baby and a five year old died on impact. The mother died a week later. Only the father and the 7 year old girl lived. She DOAed. We haven't had any contact here since then. Haven't been able to get a hold of anyone."

Gennai sat, unsure of what to say.

"Well," Tsumi broke in, "There's still 9 of you that we need." She looked to Gennai. "Call them."

"Why are you so anxious to get us back together. We haven't been a group in years."

"If you '_DigiDestined'_ can help Shūri I want you all together, because I sure haven't been able to figure out how to save him."

"Whose Shūri?"

The girls looked to one another now, then glance towards Gennai. "Shūri is a young man, roughly your age, who has been staying here since he was very young. I'll tell you more about Shūri when we get the others here." Gennai picked up his phone again. "Now, what's your father's number, Matt?" Matt rattled the numbers off, just slow enough for Gennai to punch them in. "Grand, grand!" Gennai laughed. The phone began to ring. He sat it into the cradle and set the base to one.

"Hello?"

"Hello! T.K.?"

"Speaking."

"We need-" There was a small static noise right about then, followed by the screen blinking out. "T.K." Gennai said gravely, "we need your help." He picked the phone up, now aware that his device had only enough juice for one trip. "But I can't bring you in. I thought I could."

"Gennai?"

"Yes, T.K. Matt and Tai are here. The best you can do now is wish them luck."

Matt and Tai stared at the phone. It was broken, and it was up to them. They knew that their digivices would be no good, not without Agumon or Gabumon. "Gennai!" They both shouted when he turned the phone off. "How do you expect us to do anything?"

"Yeah, we don't have our Digimon."

"I know, but you will have them… in a way." He stood. "Girls, entertain the boys." With those words he walked away.

Matt grinned. "What are your names?"

The shortest of the three stood with her arms folded. "I'm Sam…I fly above the battle to keep an eye on the enemy and to make the strategies."

The boys studied her. She had hair that fell just below her full breasts the color of pooling blood which offset eyes the color of deep royal amethyst. Her skin color was light, but she wasn't pale. She had pouty lips the color of red wine. What she lacked in height she made up for in shape, and it was hard to miss. Her black blouse was tight and clingy, leaving just enough to the imagination that it could run wild, and her jean capris, though a little looser then the blouse, still showed her athletic build. She had her wrists and her ankles wrapped in sky blue cloth.

"Fly?"

She nods. "I'm a hawk horse, this is just my human shape." She resumed her seat, and the darker girl stood.

"I'm Roma Aeterna, named for the great city of Rome and the Divine Goddess that personified the Grand City… I heal the wounded."

This girl was somewhat taller then average, the boys would guess about 5'8 or 5'9, pretty close to 6 foot at any rate.She had flame red locks that fell well past her shoulders, roughly to her waist. She had deep eyes the color of cherry wood and her complection was the color of sand freshly wet from the ocean waves. Her kissable lips were the color of freshly picked cherries. She wore a pine green leotard which disappeared into very tight, short denim shorts. Her vigorous body radiated strength and speed. On her left arm she wore two silver rings, and on her right leg she wore three rings. Two silver on either side of a single golden ring.

"So you heal?"

She nodds. "My species is known for it."

"Ahh… right. Of course it is. You're a…"

"Unicorn."

"Ahh! Yeah, we see it now."

The third remained sitting, with one long leg crossed over the other's knee. "I'm Tsumi-Bimyō, stick with Tsumi. I'm the main fighter of the three of us… I'm a dragon if you don't remember." Her voice was soft, seductive, and held a deadly edge to it.

They boys couldn't help but stare at her legs first. They were long and well muscled, as well as pale. Her skirt was extremely tight, made to take the shape of her body from a shiny silver colored material. From her they could see a middrift, and the shiny bellybutton ring she had. On her neck she wore three chains. One was a choker with a sapphire laid into the center, the second was a bit looser and purely chain, the third was loose and dangled. On it was another stone. This one was cracked in the center and was the color of jade. Her blouse was midnight blue and somehow managed to be tighter then Sam's and dipping into a low V-neck, showing her magnificent form. Her blood colored lips held secrets that they craved. Her eyes twinkled like shiny emeralds and her face was framed with long purple hair. They looked, seeing the hair fall behind her and pool on the floor around the chair legs.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your long hair…"

She stared at Tai in distaste. "And what is that suppose to mean?"

"Well, your hair is awfully long."

"The length of my hair is the length of my tail in proportion to my body. Want to fight next time I change?"

"No. Not at all. I'm sorry."

"What kind of Digimon are you three anyway?" Matt asked casually.

"We're not. Originally we were characters for a video game."

"But we practically got deleted."

"But you're so beautiful!"

"Yeah, I know! Damn bastards."

"Said we were too pretty."

"I bet Lara Croft didn't get that."

Gennai reenters the room. "Have you all gotten acquainted?"

"Sort of…"

"Good!" In his arms he held a parcel wrapped in blue. "Boys, you're partners have been captured… and I know that hurts, but you must release them."

"And help Shūri." One of the girls inputted.

"Yes, Shūri. We'll get to him in a moment." Gennai laid the bundle on the middle of his table. "Tai, you remember WarGreymon, yes?"

Tai nods. "How could I forget him?" He smiles. "He's amazing… What about him?"

Gennai unwrapped the cloth, showing two shiny pieces of metal. He raises them. They're gold, with long claws coming out from them. They're almost as long as Gennai's arm and glinting. "Tai, these came from WarGreymon. Right before their assailants got them he Digivolved. His sheaths were ripped from his arms, causing him great pain." He hands them towards Tai. "Now, they're yours. With them you get all the abilities of Agumon through all his forms. You wear them as WarGreymon does."

Tai stares at them in awe. "Is he dead?"

"No, captured. Wear these, help save him." Tai took them from him and stared at them, looking on the edge of tears.

"Matt, you remember Gabumon's fur?"

"Oh no…" Matt stared dumbfounded at the blue cloth lying on the table. "Gabumon?"

Gennai held up the cloth. It was a thick jacket pale blue with dark blue stripes, four arms, and a hood. "You'll get all his abilities too."

Matt took it in his hands. "Do I wear it?... just like a jacket?"

Gennai nods. "Just like a jacket. Put it on."

Matt slipped into the jacket. He felt power surge through him. He touched it gently, feeling the softness of it. Then he noticed his pants changed. They were tighter with a skull high on the thigh, and spikes on the knees, just like WereGarurumon. Looking at his hands he wore the brass knuckles of his friend too. "Gennai?"

"Side effect…WereGarurumon has kicking and punching attacks, remember?"

"Right."

Tai clipped the armor and claws onto his arms. He felt guilt tug at him at the same moment he felt the power pulsing through his veins. The claws disappeared and he stared. "How…?"

"They aren't needed, and very awkward to have around all the time. They'll pop back out when you need, or want them. When you go the girls will be accompanying you." He smiles slyly. "First thing we need you to do is save Shūri's soul. After that we can call the other DigiDestined to help save everyone else."

"Why do we need to save him first?"

"Because Shūri is the only one that can fix the device to call them."

Sam stood again. "Come on, meet Shūri." She took Matt by the hand and led him into a room. In the middle of the room sat a bed, the walls were lined with shelves, and tables, all holding parts, tools or weapons.

"His room?" Tai asked.

Roma nods. "He's a genius. He can make, fix or invent anything… he likes to invent so he keeps materials around for it."

"And the swords?"

"He likes to fight and practice."

Sam lead Matt to the bed, Tai following behind slipped to one side of the bed. They gawked at the teenager. Under the blanket his form looked skinny. His face was pale and his eyes remained closed. "Matt," Tai said in awe, "he could double as your twin."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Matt sat in a chair, taking in deep breaths. "What is he?" He finally says. He stared up at Gennai. "What _is_ he?"

"He's human, Matt. Nothing more, nothing less. He's not even DigiDestined like yourself."

"It was like… looking at myself when I _died_."

Tsumi and Roma walked out, followed by Tai. "Matt," Tai says softly, "He's not dead. He's… _nearly_ dead."

"Yeah, well you try walking in on someone lying there motionless that just happens to look like you. See what you're doing then."

"Matt, come on. It's not you." Tai sat by him and rubbed his arm. "He's just a kid that lives here. Total coincidence."

Matt nods. "Yeah… I know, I know."

Tsumi tossed a few locks of hair from her face. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

Matt looks at her. "He looks like me. He's the next thing to dead."

"So? That shouldn't mean anything to you. You're not Shūri. Shūri is a 16 year old prodigy. All you have in common is appearance, nothing more, and don't you forget that." Tsumi told him bluntly.

Matt watches her. "You're right. He needs our help…"The thought of himself being dead still plagued his mind, and it made him determined to help the boy. "What do we do?"

Gennai's smile is small and apologetic. "Do you remember Myotismon's castle?" Both of the boys nod. "Good! Myotismon and Devimon teamed up to take over our world. Everything they plotted, at first, could be deprogrammed by Shūri. As long as Shūri was around everything they did was a no go, so they hatched a plan to get rid of Shūri. The problem is that Shūri knows everything about anything digital, which will come in handy later on for them, so killing him just wouldn't do. They needed a way to make sure he wouldn't get in the way, without destroying him."

"They needed his information?" Tai asks.

Gennai nods. "Exactly. So they took his being, and left his body."

"How?"

"Well… we aren't sure. The first thing we need is for you to get his…"

"Essence?"

"Yes. That's it, his essence."

"Why do you care so much?"

"He's like my son." Gennai said with a nod.

"Is he?"

"No, he's not. Besides that, all the secrets of this world are in his mind. He's been raised here for most of his life."

"Let's go."

"How do we get there?"

Tsumi sighed. "You can ride on me. Well, one of you and Roma can. The other can ride Sam."

The boys look to Tsumi. "You'd let us ride you?"

"One of you. I would let you both, but I'd rather have Roma on me, since she can't fly."

"I'll take Sam." Matt says. He looks at Tai, "Sorry, man… but you're a bigger guy."

Tai nods. "A dragon fits my size better anyway."

Sam finally comes out and looks at them. Her eyes sparkle with fresh tears that have just been pushed from her eyes. She held her head high and looked them squarely in the eyes. "What did I miss?"

Tsumi looks to her. "You carry the blond on your back. I get Roma and the big guy."

Sam nods and looks at Gennai. "When do we go?"

"Now."

Sam and Tsumi nod. "Great." The boys watch, suddenly entranced. They pull their tops off and fold them neatly. Sam slips off her capris, and the boys realized that they wore nothing under their clothes. Both turned their backs, feeling a sudden urge to prove they're not complete perverts.

They hear Roma sigh. "Why am I always the one to pack your clothes."

Sam picks up a leather pouch, that Roma just slipped her clothes into. "Because you're the one that always thinks ahead, I suppose."

Tsumi rolls her eyes. "I'll be outside when you're all ready." With those words she disappeared out the door.

"Come on, boys." Sam said, as she made her way out the door.

The boys followed Roma out the door. They stood frozen. In front of them stood a vicious looking dragon, whose eyes sparkled in emerald green and her scales glistened with purple. She was long, almost snake like, with four legs, each ending in three razor-sharp claws. They watch as scarlet wings burst from Sam's back, and a tail grows from her. She grows in size, becoming twice the size of an average horse. Her fur and wings shine in the sunlight. The brown leather bag hung at her side and fit snugly. She looked at them, violet eyes immaculate.

"Come on." Roma said, going and climbing up onto the Japanese dragon that is Tsumi.

Tai went to her and looked. Her tail was long, nearly as long as her body. "Do I…?"

Roma reaches her hand out. "Give me your hand, I'll pull you up." Tai took her hand, and with a little pushing with his legs, she pulled him on.

Matt strokes Sam's mane. It was soft and put him in mind of freshly washed hair. He remembers riding a horse once, but it took him ten minutes to get on it, and then he fell off. "If I hurt you, I'm sorry." He whispers to her. He lifts his leg and tosses it over as best as he can. He reaches around her neck and pulls himself the rest of the way on. He breathes, it was easier then he thought it would be.

Sam flaps her wings gently runs a few steps and Matt feels himself lifted from the ground. After a moment he decides that if it wasn't for the wings, it wouldn't be any different then riding a furry MetalGarurumon. The dragon seems to glide beside them. She has no wings, so how she flies is a mystery to Matt.

They fly in silence until they reach a looming black castle set against a grey sky with dying trees sprinkled in front of it. "That's it!" Roma yells. Both boys stare at it. Since they'd seen it last, it had changed.

They landed feet from the castle. "This is such an inconvenience." Tsumi complains. "Having to change clothes each time we change form. We never had to when we wore our other clothes."

"Our other clothes were rags." Sam told her, slipping her shirt on.

"They may have been ragged, but it never bothered me." Tsumi told Sam, slipping into her skirt. "It wouldn't bother me if we had to run around naked, I mean honestly, it's just more convenient that way, isn't it?"

"Well sure," Sam says, putting the leather bag on, "but Gennai wouldn't let us, you know that." The bag hung at her hip and she adjusted it to hang slightly above. "Ready?" The boys nod.

"Good."

"All we have to do is get in, find the safest place."

"Last time Myotismon hid the crest in his… casket."

"Then we'll look there first."

"You know how to use the powers you get with you gear, yes?"

"No…"

"Just say the attack you want to you and… throw it. Except certain attacks. You get to breathe certain attacks, like your Digimon."

"Breathe it?" Before Matt could get the words out Tsumi was already moving towards the castle, followed closely by Roma.

"Go." Sam pushed Matt forward and ushered Tai along. "Follow Tsumi." She told them.

The doors were large, too large for them to push open. The windows were high, but had no glance. "Did you pack the rope?"

"Of course."

"Sam, you're the smallest, you'll go on top. Matt, come here."

Matt stood in front of Tsumi. "What?"

Tsumi held her hands out. "Grab my hands." Matt knew what she was doing. He grasped her hands and held strong. "Roma, climb up." Roma stepped up onto the hands. If she was 4 feet taller she knew she could reach it. "Tai, pick Sam up, keep her somewhat straight, because with their combined weight, this will be heavy." Tai picked her up. With skill that she'd used many times before she pulled herself onto Roma's shoulders quickly, grabbed the window and lifted herself in.

"Here it comes." She says, dropping down the end of the rope.

"Can you hold it?" Roma calls up.

There is a moment of silence, where she wasn't to bee seen, followed by a small grunt. "Yeah, I got it. Send Roma up first, that way we can hold it while the rest of you come up."

From her perch on Matt and Tsumi hand Roma grabs the rope and climbs up it like a squirrel. After Roma's feet hit the ground softly the two girls call for the next up. Tsumi pulled her hands from Matt and pointed him up. Matt grabbed the rope and started to climb. His climbing wasn't as graceful as the girls, and definitely took a few minutes longer then Sam or Roma had. "Tai, you're next," he heard Tsumi say. He finally reached the top and looked around. The walls were bare, grey stone, just like the floor.

He heard the girls groan as they pulled back to increase their strength for his friend. Matt grabbed up the end of the rope. Tai wasn't fat, but he couldn't be called a light guy. He's 234 pounds of pure muscle, putting Matt's 194 to shame.

Tai was a faster climber then Matt, which made all three of the ones holding the rope happy. He reached the top, leaped over and looked around. "We can handle Tsumi, thanks, Matt." Matt let go, and it seemed like the moment he let go Tsumi was jumping into the cold hall. Sam pulled the rope up, had it wrapped, in her bag, and down the hall before Matt could utter surprise. Tsumi took after her, Tai followed her, Roma gave him a shove, making him go, and followed at his heels.

Matt wondered if he was viewed as the child of the group. When truth be told, he was the oldest. He was only months older then Tai, but he was still older, and the girls were created for a video game. They may appear to be older then the boys, but they weren't. Shūri could have been 10-years-old and still be older then the girls.

"I was starting to think Tsumi was the leader." Matt whispered to Roma.

"Sam knows the castle. She's been here before… nearly got herself killed, but she learned the layout."

"Ahh…"

They made their way down stairs, barely making any noise, and no conversation. They reached a hall of the room. On one wall hung a vibrant tapestry and a long table was in the middle. "It's a dining room." Matt said, slightly confused.

"Yep."

Sam looks around, trying to remember where they have to go. "Myotismon's room is downstairs, but watch out for LadyDevimon. She guards his room, and nearly killed me last time."

She took down the hall again, and led them down another flight of stairs. They took off through the corridor and turned a corner. Sam stopped and rushed back around the corridor, causing everyone else to run into her. "What?"

Sam peeked around the corner, and everyone else looked with her. The woman was tall, and wore a black helmet with long white hair coming from it. Her skin was white, she wore a small slip across her breasts and a black loin cloth. She wore boots up to the middle of her calves, and one hand looked long and deformed. "LadyDevimon." Sam whispered.

"Love her hair." Tsumi said absently.

Sam glanced at her then shook her head. What goes on in Tsumi's head is between Tsumi and herself, no one else really wants to know. "We can't fight her directly." She says. "She has major advantages over these forms, like flight."

"I can't fly at all." Roma says, irritation radiating from her voice.

"Don't worry about it. None of us can heal."

"Then how do we get past her?"

She stood still, watching LadyDevimon and studying her. "The boys." She looks at them. "We can fight in these forms, but as long as she can fly we can't get past her… We need a distraction. Hit her with one of your attacks, either one of you."

"And how do we get in then?"

Tsumi grins. "I can take care of that."

Tai steps around the corner, the claws on his arm guards out, long and edges shining. He lifts his arms and yells, "Nova Force!" A great golden ball appears in his hands and he throws at the tall lady.

"Oh, Shit!" Matt shouts in surprise.

The women screamed as the blast hit her. She wasn't destroyed, so she was ticked. Tai took off down the hall, giving the girls, and Matt, a chance to make it into the room. Tsumi ran after LadyDevimon as the others disappeared into the room. She took a leap and landed on her back. She grabbed her hair and gave a yank. "Get in!"

Tai raced into the room and closed the door. Leaning against it he caught his breath. "Have you found it?"

Roma looked up from the casket. "No, not yet."

Sam looked on a shelf, moving different jars around. "This place is too fucking big."

Matt tugged at a cabinet and cursed. "It's locked."

"Blast it."

Tai opened the door and looked out. Tsumi was still on the woman, only now her hair was being pulled as well. He closed the door back and moved into the room. "What about Tsumi?"

"What about her?"

"Aren't you worried she'll get hurt?"

"Tsumi? No…she'll kill before they kill her."

"Blue Blaster." Matt whispers. A stream of blue comes from his mouth. It hits the key hole and vanishes. Matt closes his mouth and opens the cabinet doors. "Hey, is any of this it?" He stared into the cabinet. Small bottles full of a oddly colored liquid sat in it, and discs. Roma moved next to Matt and looks.

"Grab the discs. All of them." She reached out and picked up a teal blue vial and swirled its contents. "This one's Shūri." She looked at it, her face lit up by her smile. "Sam, come here."

Sam runs to her and crouches by her. "Yes?"

Roma gives Sam the bottle. "Here, it's Shūri." Sam took the bottle and looks at it, her eyes soft. She works into her bag gently. Matt hands her the discs, and she sets them into her bag.

"Okay, let's-"

The door breaks open then. His blond hair fell over a red mask. He wore a blue suit trimmed with gold. His cape was long black on one side, red on the other. "Busted." Tai say on automatic.

Myotismon looks around the room, taking in the mess. He didn't yell, or swear revenge on them, just looked. He smiled a toothy vampire grin. He pulled his cape around himself. "Grisly-"

The purple dragon slammed against him. She motioned her head for them to climb onto her. Her claws set roughly on Myotismon's back, pushing him to the point of nearly being crushed. His curses were violent and descriptive. All four of them scrambled up onto her. In a flash she was flying through the castle, up the stairs and through the same window that they entered.

"We did it."

"What's wrong with Myotismon?"

"Well, after you defeated him he was reborn, that's what Digimon do. He's held a grudge against you since then…that's really all we know about his problems. He's almost as secretive as Shūri."

"How do we use it?" Matt asks.

"Use what?"

"Shūri's… essence. How do we get it in him?"

"I'll make a potion for him." Roma says. "We might have to inject it into him."

"Or hold his nose to make him drink it."

"How come we couldn't ride like this when we came over here?"

"Because we're a lot of weight and she's still a slim dragon." Sam strokes Tsumi. "It's okay, we're almost home." She leans close to Tsumi's head. "Thank you."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Tai sits in a chair, staring at the discs on the table. "Why did we grab these?"

Sam picks one up and looks at it. "It's digital information."

"Yeah… so?"

"So, they hold Agumon's digital information. Gabumon, and…" She stares at the discs, "whoever else Myotismon and Devimon have kidnapped."

"So… one of them has Agumon on it?"

"Yes." Sam looks through the discs casually. "It's a bitch, ain't it?"

"Bring them back."

"I can't." She picks up one of the discs and studies, a grin on her lips. "See, Shūri was one of the not so lucky. He's human. For a Digimon, or being such as myself, he stores us on these discs, like you humans store music. For a human he would have had to create a body that he could control, if he chose to bring him back. Not us, we would come back as normal, tweaked to his specifications." She hands the disc to Tai. "Shūri's the only one smart enough to build a machine to bring him back. Protect that disc; it's your best friend."

He looks at the disc. The number 0008 was scribbled across it. "How do you know?"

"I know Shūri very well, and he learns things like that. Every Digimon has a number; it's a way for Gennai's people to keep track of the different Digimon. Its public knowledge... if you want to find it it's posted around this world somewhere. See, Agumon was one of the first eight ever created, used by the very _first_ DigiDestined to set foot in this world."

"The very first? You mean, Agumon had another DigiDestined?"

"Of course he did, just like all the others. Their memories are wiped after their DigiDestined… dies. They go into an egg form until their new DigiDestined is born. When it is the Digimon is released and starts from scratch. It may remember the DigiDestined it had before, but its new focus is the one it has now. Not all are born to a DigiDestined, or they just don't find them, those become wild, with minds of their own. They keep their memories through the time, that's why Myotismon holds a grudge against you."

"So Biyomon…"

"Will come back when a new DigiDestined is born that's destined for her. She won't really remember Sora, except for in glances. Her focus will be on her new one… her memory is already gone, Tai."

"So when I go…"

"Agumon will revert to an egg, lose his memory of you, and wait for someone new to come and save this world. Yes, it will happen, Tai."

"How many has he had?"

"Two, maybe three. Just like everyone else." Sam looks towards the kitchen. "What's taking so long with that potion?"

"Tell me about Shūri."

"He's smart."

"No, tell me about you and him."

"What about us?"

"You care for him?"

She nods. "Yeah, I care for him in a way I shouldn't. I don't know, maybe I fascinate him. Either way," she smiles, "we were what humans call 'lovers.'" She sighs, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I would give my left arm to be human."

"Does he love you?"

"He said so once… but I still don't know what that means. He spoke of wondrous things, from the human world. Marriage, children… but it's human." She looks at the discs absently. "I am not human, and never will be. I can't give him children, and just entering the human realm would fry my body and mind."

"You cry for him, and you're willing to risk life and limb for him."

"And I'd have his children if I could, but I can't… so we can express our love, but we'll never get anything from it." She lays another disc out. "Gabumon."

Tai looks at the disc in his hand again, then the claw sheaths lying on the table. "How was Gennai able to get that stuff?"

She looks him in the eyes. "He sacrificed his right arm."

"No…"

"Yes. The one he has now is a replacement. He'll never regain his other arm, and it's painful for him… the place it was removed will never heal completely and it burns terribly."

"Why would he-"

"To make sure that this world has heroes, even if they don't have Digimon. This world is his home; he'll die to protect it." As she speaks she lays out discs, the total number equaling 11.

"Is that everyone?"

"Yes… those are the chosen Digimon, except for Biyomon. If Sora is truly dead, like you say, she's an egg back at the castle."

Tsumi enters through the door, and gushes. "Sammi, Roma says we've got it!"

Sam leaps from her chair and runs to Tsumi, grabbing her up in a hug. "Are you sure?"

"That's what Roma said!!"

Matt comes out and sits next to Tai. "She's serious about the whole healing thing. It's amazing. Herbs, salt, water, and magic… I think it's something I could learn, if I really put my mind to it."

Roma comes out holding a vibrant blue liquid in a vial. Her smile was contagious. "We can do it."

"How?"

"We pour it down his throat and hope he swallows it."

Sam pushes Matt from her chair. "Go on… I'm going to finish sorting these… I'll be there soon…"

Roma, Tsumi, and Matt make their way to where Shūri lays. Matt's skin prickles as he looks at him. He hasn't moved, reminding Matt more of a clone that hasn't been animated yet, rather than an actual person. Roma pulls the blanket from him. Matt studies his clothes. He wears tight black jeans and a black muscle shirt. Matt sees a tattoo on his arm, but he can't make out what it is.

Roma frowns. "This would be easier with one more person, but I think we can manage." She looks to Matt. "Grab his legs, and hold them _tight_. Tsumi, hold one of his arms. I'll take the other one… I should have enough time to grab it before the potion starts to take effect." Tsumi and Matt nods and take the position they were told to.

Roma opens his mouth and squeezes his nose together. She picks up the liquid and pours it down his throat, hopping that he swallows it. Having no other choice, he does swallow the potion. Roma sits glass tube down and grabs his arm.

For a moment nothing happens, and they relax their grips. He releases a groan followed by him arching his back upwards. They tighten their grips again as he starts to fight against them. Horrible noises of torture come from him as he tries to pull free from them. After several minutes he stops. Matt can hear him breathing quickly, pulling in heavy breaths and pushing the air in sharp points.

"Is it over?"

"Yeah. He needs to wake up now… his body has gotten used to being alone."

Sam stands in the doorway, silently watching. She wasn't sure if this would even work, neither was anyone else. The thought haunted her mind, and she'd hate to think about living without him. Ever since she'd gotten here he had been a huge part of her life, always the first to come and talk with her. She remembers him telling her that he loves her, and life would be empty without her. She closed her hands into fists, as tears started to run down her face. She feels a hand on her shoulder and she turns to see Tai.

His strong eyes stare down at her, comforting and sympathetic. Brown hair falls gently into his eyes. His smile is caring, and even though she's only known him a short time, she feels safe with him. She leans into him, burying her face into his muscular chest. He wraps his arms around her, rubbing her back and softly telling her he would be okay. He leads her from the room to sit with her in the living room. As she cries quietly he rocks her back and forth, whispering softly into her ear.

It was a nice feeling. She felt like she could tell him anything and he wouldn't fight with her, unless he felt it wasn't in her favor. She felt protected, differently then when she was with Shūri, like she'd known him for years. It was an old comfort like someone that's been in her family since before she was born, like one of the other girls, her sisters.

Tai sees the other three. He nods to them with a smile and strokes her hair. She hugs him tightly and nuzzles into him. They sit for a long time, until Sam eventually falls asleep. He stretches her out on the couch, where she rolls to one side and curls into a tight ball. He looks at her for a moment longer, kisses her on the temple and leaves her to sleep.

**3 3 3 3 3 3**

Silver light filtered through the window, falling across his face. He closes his eyes tighter as his muscles become tense, then ach from pain. He can feel his heart hammering against his chest, and his head is pummeling against his skull with each beat. He closes his fingers in tight against his palm, feeling the long nails dig into him. His body shutters in a burst of pain, causing him to groan and twist violently. His toes tingle, and the sensation raises up his legs. He gasps for air, unsure if he was about to be reborn or starting his walk through hell. Either, he supposes, would be as painful as the other. In a matter of moments he was aware of every muscle, joint, tendon, and bone in his body as it stung with pain. His body felt like thousands of needles had been plunged into every inch of his being. He clinches his teeth together to keep from screaming. He tried to scream, but was unable to get his voice to operate, so his screams fall onto deaf ears. He breaths slowly, the pain gradually subsiding.

His eyes finally open in a blaze of silver-blue fire. His pupils are large, eclipsing the blue fire. He blinks several times, adjusting to the pale moonlight. He sits up, looking around. His mane of shiny hair caresses his neck and tickles his cheek. He sets his feet onto the floor and stands. He feels his knees buckle from his weight and falls back onto the bed. Silently he curses himself, wondering how long he's been gone, or if he's deeper into the pits of hell the he had realized. He rubs his legs, trying to ease the throbbing pain that still plagued them. His hands tingle in numbness, and for a reason unknown to him it struck him how funny that sounded. He stands again. His ankles shake, but he remains on his feet. "Slow…" He tells himself. "Go slowly." Carefully, and silently, he makes his way from the room. First in his sight is the table, stacks of discs piled up on it. He strains his ears, listening to the breathing and snoring of the people in the other rooms. He goes through the arch into the living room. He can hear the shallow breathing of a girl, and he moves towards it. He looks over the back of the couch. Deep red hair falls over a delicate face and small body curled into a tight ball. He touches her cheek with the tips of his fingers.

"Sammi." He says softly, as he makes his way around the couch. "Sammi." He crouches down in front of her. "Sammi." He lays his hand on her shoulder and shakes her carefully. "Baby Doll." He plants a small kiss on her cheek.

She moans softly and burrows her face into a pillow. He grins and kisses her neck delicately. "Sammi." He whispers. He runs his fingertips down her body, and kisses her neck again.

She's awake now, smiling to herself. She missed his touch, and that alone is enough to make her shiver to her bone. "Sammi." She hears him call lightly. His lips feel grand against her neck, and she wishes he would never stop. For a moment she wonders if this is all a dream, her mind wanting what it can't have. "Sammi," he says, "I can hear you breathing." He slips an arm under her, just under her breast, and his other around her. His head rests in the crook of her neck, his hair mingling in with hers.

"I missed you," she tells him.

"How long have I been gone?"

"Too long."

"Move over a little."

She turns to look at him and pushes her back against the couch, creating enough room for a skinny individual to lay next to her. He settles himself onto the couch, pushing his firm body close to hers.

She stares into his eyes. His body feels good against hers, and she craves after him. "Are you really back?"

He smiles. His smiles are always mysterious, and his eyes somehow manage to give away the joy he holds within. "Haven't I told you I'd never leave you behind?" He kisses her lips softly. He cups her face gently with one hand; she wraps her arm around him and strokes the back of his neck in slow, nearly seductive, strokes. She opened her mouth, to allow his tongue to slip warily in.

She pulls her lips from his and shakes her head. "No…" She smiles, sleep mixed deep in with her lust. "I'm sleepy, baby…"

He nods and pulls her to him. "Sleep…" She lays her head on his chest, and after seconds of him playing with her deep cherry colored hair she was sleeping.

He couldn't sleep. His body ached too much and his mind had grown restless in a short amount of time he didn't have her to talk to. He wondered how far he'd fallen behind in his work, if anything new needed to be repaired, if there was anything that he needed to do, and had been unable to.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Tai woke to sunlight pouring in on his face and Matt's snoring ringing in his ears. He sits up and looks at his buddy. Blond hair sweeps across his face, and Tai laughs but muffles his laughter quickly. When Matt was asleep he could be described as many things. Baby like, male model, angelic, none of which came to the reality of his best friend, except maybe model. Matt was tall, towering over Tai by at least 8 inches, and slim. Icy blue eyes that made women go weak in the knees with just a glance and golden hair fell over creamy skin, any woman would want him. The reality of Matt is that he's a hard rocker with a stubborn streak longer than a county mile and a wild side that cannot be broken, yet one of the most loyal friends a person could have.

Tai stands and looks around for his shirt. Thinking back to last night he should have done what Matt had; fold it up to the thickest he could get it and still have enough room for his head and used it as a pillow, but the boys had made a compromise. The room had only one bed, neither wanting to sleep with each other. Tai had taken the floor and gotten the pillow, tonight they would switch places, putting Matt on the floor with the pillow. After a minute of searching Tai found his shirt and left the room.

He saw blond hair sticking up from the couch. He stares at the hair for a full minute before turning and looking back into the room. He sees Matt still lying in the bed, deep in slumber, and making a racket with his snoring. He turns back and sneaks towards the couch.

"Hello?" The voice greeting him has set into a sing-song tenor. It's in the same key as Matt's soothing baritone at a slightly higher pitch.

"Hello?" Tai repeats. He makes his way around the couch to look at the boy. He notices very quickly that this is not a boy, but a man. A slightly flamboyant man, but a man nonetheless. His jeans hug his lower body in a way he's seen no other male wear them, his black wife beater shows every curve of his body and every well defined muscle he had, and he was _very_ well defined. Sam's head lays in his lap, looking more peaceful than he had ever seen her before.

He grins at Tai. "Hey… sorry… who are you?"

"I'm Tai… and you must be…" Tai shook his head. "You look a lot like Matt."

"Matt? Nope, never heard of him." He offers his hand to Tai. "I'm Shūri."

Tai takes his hand. "Hi…"

Shūri stares at him with intense icy-sapphire eyes. "You're…" he tilts his head to the side. "human."

"Yeah, what did you expect?"

"Human… wow." He blinks and stares into his eyes. "You're a real human. Kami, how long has it been?" He furrows his eyebrows together. "Eight years."

"Eight years? Since you've seen a human? Where did you get your clothes?"

"Dude, we're in the _Digital_ World. I pick my clothes from the internet and pluck em offline. I've just been hoping that Diaboromon doesn't show up again… I nearly got eaten."

"You were here when Diaboromon was running around?"

"Duh. Eight years since I've been in contact with a real human, Diaboromon was only 4 years ago, I was 12."

"Why did you come here?" Tai sits in a chair, and looks at him.

"I… don't talk about my past." He strokes Sam's hair, more like she's a kitten then a person. "This is my future, and my present, who has time for the past?"

"What happ-"

"My past is mine, and it's none of your fucking concern, got it?!"

He feels something rubbing his leg. "What's wrong, Shūri?"

"I'm sorry, Sammi. Did I wake you?" His eyes soften, his entire body takes on a more relaxed language.

She rolls onto her back and stares up at him. Her smile is soft, and her eyes twinkle in concern. She reaches her hand up and rubs his cheek. "What's wrong?"

He glances at Tai, eyes dark. "Nothing, babe."

Sam sits up and looks at Tai, grinning. "Morning, Tai."

He smiles. "Good morning, Sam."

"So…" She looks between them, "you two have met." She leans into Shūri and wraps her arms around him, grinning. "Isn't he great?"

Tai nods, wanting to know what mysteries he has. "Yeah… totally awesome."

"Shūri, can you fix the world exchange device?"

"World exchange device?" He asks, half laughing.

"Yeah, the one that can take them back to their world."

"Ah, that." He nods. "Yeah, I mean I did work on it last time… and all of those freakin' Digiport televisions. I'm just happy there were only 5 in that group last time… anymore of those, what did that one kid call them? D-terminals?, I would have died."

"You made those?"

"Someone had to… you should have seen the ones before I got my hands on them." He laughs. "Totally old school."

"I thought-"

"That those devices were really there for a long time? Are you kidding, they were newer then yours. Someone had to update them to do all the stuff they had to hold." He laughs. "You aren't that naïve, are you?" He stops and looks at him. "You really did believe that, didn't you? Wow, sorry, guy."

"Where's your Digimon?"

"Mine?" He stares off into a wall. "I don't have any..." He takes Sam's hand and moves it from him. "I need to talk to Gennai." He stands, glances at Tai, and disappears through another door.

"Touchy, ain't he?"

Sam shrugs. "He's private. Not even Gennai knows everything about him. I guess Gennai knows his real name, but no one else does… not even me."

XXXXXXXXX

The morning moved swiftly. Before Matt was even awake Ant, Sam, and Tsumi had breakfast made and set onto the table. Matt woke to the smell of food and came drifting to the table. They ate breakfast together, and when they finished Roma and Gennai cleared the table.

Shūri sat in his chair, leaning back onto the hind legs. Matt can't help but stare at him. It's more like looking into water now that Shūri's awake. It's an image of him, but somehow warped. His hair looks lighter and his eyes harsher, and somehow sill friendly. The pooled eyes are darker then Matt's more sapphire then ice, but still icy, and in a light they look like someone had poured a bit of the ocean into them. His clothes are black and Matt has a guess that the man doesn't have an ounce of fat on him.

"You're Matt?" He finally asks.

"Yeah. Matt. That would make you Shūri." The man nods. "You're a lot more intimidating awake, know that?"

Shūri grins, and Matt can tell that they've already started to bond. "Don't worry about me, as long as you don't attack me or someone I care about I won't hurt a fly. You're kinda menacing yourself. I bet you can carry yourself in a fight, huh?"

Matt grins, leaving Sam and Tsumi silently creeped out with how similar their expressions are. Matt offers his hand out. "Any time you wanna try it, buddy."

"So, how's the human race holding up? Any new wars going on?"

"There's always war… the Americas are losing thousands of troops a day in a war that most of them don't even understand."

"I hate the human species…"

"You are human."

"True, but I wish I wasn't. Humans kill just to do, some do it without cause or care. If you get a human alone most of them are tolerable, but when together they destroy. They give up their children because they aren't ready, they kill their own kind just because they can." His laugh is vicious and uncaring. "That's why I'm here."

"How did you get here?" Matt leans against his chair. "Why are you here? Where's your Digimon?"

"I'm not sure how I got here. I was young and was playing with… some of my friends." He shrugs. "Next thing I knew I was here, but I never wanted to go back, I was free from-…" He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "You were one of the last DigiDestined, weren't you?"

Matt nods. "Yeah… me and Tai both." He sighs. "And I really miss Gabumon."

"Yeah…" Sam smiles. "Number nine is Gabumon. Just look through the small pile there." She looks at Shūri. "Is there anyway you can make something to pull the data from the discs? You know, so Matt and Tai can get Agumon and Gabumon back and all the others can be released?"

Shūri picks up one of the discs at random. "Yeah," he says, looking it over. "I can make something to release data. Maybe a modified computer or… something like that. I've got some ideas." He sets the disc back down.

"How old are you, Shūri?"

"Me? I just turned 17 in Feburary, you?"

"The same, just turned 17."

"What, is Gennai doing the dishes or something? Gennai!" He calls, turning to look towards the kitchen.

"Oh! Coming!" Gennai reappears, his kind smile still on his face. "Do you want something, Shūri?"

"Ehh… yeah. I heard that the dimensional transmitter broke again."

"Ahh, yes that!" In a matter of moments Gennai disappeared again.

Shūri sighs. "He's changed so much since he got younger… still an awesome guy, but not nearly as funny anymore."

Gennai returns and sits the device down. "Here you go."

Shūri picks it up. "Yeah… I can fix that, no problem. It should take a day, two at the most." Right then there's a buzzing noise. "Okay… a week." He sits it down. "I'll start on it…" He stops and watches the odd device. Smoke drifts slowly up from it before sparks fly from it and it makes its final hum of death. He stares at it in mild surprise and lets out a single, "Huh… new estimate. A month, I'll have to start from scratch." He glances up to Gennai. "What did you do, have Datamon fix it or something?" Shūri stands and takes the transporter in his hands.

He turns, so that Matt can see his profile, and he sees the tattoos on his arm. Matt doesn't recognize what they represent, but he knows that the two symbols on his arm are crests. The one higher on the arm is a bronze gold circle with silver swirls inside of it, above it read 'Fay' the other is in turquoise. A circle is the center piece, a cross going through it, on the outside 5 loops go around it, creating a very simple flower. Just above it reads 'Faerie.'

Matt sits in shock until Shūri returns from dumping the destroyed machine in the trash. "You're a DigiDestined."

Shūri stares at him. "No. You're a DigiDestined; I just live in this world."

"And the crests on your arm?"

Shūri glances at them, his eyes turning suddenly dark. "They're of no importance to you." He kisses Sam on the forehead. "Now I have some projects to work on, and the rest of you need to start making plans to destroy Myotismon and Devimon." He snorts. "Maybe this time they'll get sent to Fire in the Night, where they can't cause anymore damage." Matt can see something unspoken in his eyes, but chooses not to comment on it.

After Shūri is gone Matt turns to Sam. "Who are Fay and Faerie?"

Sam shrugs. "I don't know, he won't tell me. Matt, there's some things… a lot of things that Shūri wants to keep secretive. I've never seen him cry, but if you bring his past up he will get angry, with anyone… even if he likes you. When I met Shūri he was a child, a very active and bratty child, but he would never talk about his past. When he was 14 he put those tattoos there himself, and not a soul knows what they represent, except for him and I'm assuming Gennai."

"They represent Digimon." Matt tells her flatly. "I may not be an expert in this world but I know a Crest when I see one." He pulls out his digivice and shows it to Sam. "Does he have something like this?"

Sam shakes her head. "Not to my knowledge… Tsumi, have you seen him with one of those?"

Tsumi studies Matt's degivice. "Nope. Of course, if anyone would have seen that, it would be you, Sam."

Shūri sits in his room, the room he usually shares with Sam. Tears play around his eyes, but he won't let them fall. He looks at the stuff he has, wondering what would be the best to make first. The dimensional transporter will take the longest to make, but if the guys had their Digimon back they could go on fighting like before.

He clinches his hand into a fist. In a month's time the two males and the girls would be able to get through most of this new adventure, and the Digimon wouldn't have to battle, meaning they wouldn't be lost. Their data would be stored, and at the end the boys would have their Digimon back like nothing had ever happened, they wouldn't have to go through the terrible loss of never seeing their friends again.

He picks up some scrap metal, an RV car, some wire, and his tools to start making the Dimensional Transmitter.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Tai stares at her. The cat swishes it's long white and purple. "Hi, Tai." She says, from her current perch atop his chest. Her blue eyes glistens, but something doesn't look right.

He smiles. "Hi, Gatomon." He stares at her, trying to figure out what isn't right. "When did you get here?"

"Just a little bit ago," she purrs.

Tai yawns, meaning no disrespect for the small champion, just tired. "Did Gennai let you in?"

"Yes." She leaped down from his chest. "I had to go somewhere. Myotismon was chasing after me! And you know I can't digivolve without Kari. Oh, Tai it was awful!"

Tai nods, and gets into a sitting position on the couch. Gatomon jumps back onto the couch to sit beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I heard rumor that the DigiDestined had came back, but Kari didn't come."

"She's in New York, with Mimi. It's just me and Matt… and the three girls that hang out here."

"You two are going to try to defeat two of the most evil Digimon in Digihistory?"

"We have to." He grins. "I'm so happy that Myotismon didn't get you. Kari would be devastated."

"Let's just say that me and Myotismon have come to an understanding. He doesn't mess with me and I don't destroy him… he doesn't know that I can't Digivolve without Kari." She looks around. "Is there any milk around here?"

"Yeah." Tai stands. "There should be some in their kitchen…" He turns, "I'll be right back." He takes several steps and disappears into the kitchen.

Gstomon jumps down and begins to look around. She saw something earlier that caught her eye. _Yes, that was it_, she says to herself as she spotted the long sheaths on the table. She studied them. They were definitely WarGreymon's. It was a secret, Devimon has yet to figure out the weapons of the DigiDestined. She grinned, now he would know.

A quick image came to her mind. She was in the dirt, surrounded by trees. She saw Myotismon standing above her, and Devimon behind him. "Grisly Wing!" He shouted. She had barely managed to attack with her Lightning Claw, but it hadn't been enough. She felt herself scatter into millions of bits of information, but Devimon had captured her. Her next memory is of waking up with Devimon grinning down at her. She was given her orders and would follow them to a tee. She was to find out all the plans of the DigiDestined and report to him. He failed once to take control of the Digitalworld, it would not happen again. "Soon, very soon," he told her "Fire in the Night would be his. For too long they have been without a true ruler."

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Roma could feel that something wasn't right. She couldn't be sure what it was, but something felt off. Getting the discs had been too easy. Something felt wrong, and whether it was just her that felt it or everyone else she keep her eyes peeled, just in case.

The last time she saw Shūri was when he had made breakfast and they ate together. Since then he'd locked himself into his room to work. The only one allowed in to see him was Sam. She took him lunch and dinner, not often staying for longer then ten minutes or so. She told them that he was working hard on his Dimensional Transporter. He had taken apart an RV car just for the motor, apart from that all they knew was that the new one would be round.

Gatomon currently sits in the middle of the table, listening carefully to their plans.

"So we have to destroy them? Again?"

"By ourselves?"

"Digimon are already attacking each other." Tsumi tells them.

"Could Devimon have brought the black gears back?"

"I don't think so." Tsumi says evenly. "When I went on patrol I saw a Monochromon getting attacked by Shogunmon! I fought with it, but there wasn't a black gear or even a spiral like that emperor kid had."

"What happened?"

"I…" She sighs "it wouldn't stop attacking. It tried to kill me… so I destroyed it. It's a Digimon!" She shouted, suddenly defensive with the looks they all gave her. "It'll be reborn and come back as an egg." They stared at her. She was unable to tell if it was in disgust or disappointment. "Look, I'm not a hero, okay? I was created to destroy what means to do me or anything else harm, and that Shogunmon meant to _kill_ us!!"

"Tsumi, calm down." Roma told her, patting her back. "Are you sure that it was under Devimon's control?"

"Have you ever seen a Shogumon attack a Monachromon? I know that I haven't… all I ever see Shogumon do is sleep and listen to music. "

"So… somehow Devimon is control other Digimon again… but how?"

"You know… Myotismon didn't act right."

"Myotismon might not have acted right, but LadyDevimon acted just fine…" Tsumi rubs her head. "She pulled my hair so hard I thought she'd pop my head off."

"You destroyed her too."

"No, I didn't. Her, I just knocked out after I changed forms… and tore my favorite skirt."

"Just like a round table discussion, ain't it?" Tai asked. Looking around he could see everyone, and the table was round.

"Yes… just like the round table."

Matt sighs. "We need a plan." His eyes grow dark, and he rubs the inside of his Gabumon fur jacket. "I want revenge for someone doing this to Gabumon." He looks around at everyone. "So let's plan."

Devimon sits in his castle. The humans believe that he and Myotismon are working together! Preposterous! Myotismon had been his lackey from the start, so many years ago, as he is now. Then Myotismon had been his of free will, Devimon soon decided he did not care for free will. After that blasted angel had shown up and destroyed him Myotismon had found his Digiegg, and cared for him. Devimon had told him everything before he was destroyed. He had told Myotismon about the Eighth child, and their plan had been to destroy her.

The Ninth Devimon had taken care of years before the seven appeared. He was young, too young to be here alone, and scared. All the boy had to protect himself were two crests and two tiny Digimon. They had been twins, both Faeriemon of different orientations. One was a dreaded creature of the day. His hair was orange, his antennae just slightly more yellow, his skin tan, his wings and eyes were a vibrant leaf green. He looked like he had been w rapped in silk sunlight. He was Faeriemon. The other was one of the few creatures of night, that would fight for light and felt no rejection for being at his strongest point at midnight. His hair was the softest shade of white known to man, antennae more of a snowy white, and his skin was unhealthily pale. His wings were the color of shadows, his eyes the palest blue of the stars, and he was clocked in night blue with twinkling stars. This had been ShadowFaeriemon. Neither was very big, barely topping a full inch. They grew as they evolved, but only doubling in size, only reaching 8 inches in their ultimate forms, until they did a rare thing called Royal Digivolving, followed by Fusion Digivolving.

In order for them to do this was physically straining, for both of them and the boy. When the light one Royal Digivolved he became an exquisite being toppling nearly eight feet tall with long sun colored hair. This is the elusive Soltarmon, the Monster of the Sun. The other became an amazing life form of night. He stands just as tall Soltarmon with dazzling star white hair. His name was Selenemon, the Monster of the Moon. Only twice were these monsters ever seen.

The second time they did the unthinkable. To enable themselves to save their young partner they Fusion Digivolved. Together they became one of the rarest, most astonishing creatures in Digiworld. Standing at nearly ten feet he was not a being one messed with lightly. His hair was pale twilight pink, he wore golden armor and carried a staff made of pure silver. He was Astromon, Monster of Day and Night. Only once has he ever seen.

Devimon had not wanted to fight such a being. He could realize when he was defeated. Lucky for him, by that point he had started work on his black gears. He had not laid a claw on Astromon, his new slaves had fought against him. Astromon had no problems defeating them, but once he had beaten all of them he was exhausted. The two had split into their rookie forms of Faeriemon. The boy had ran to them, to get his best friends. They were too tired to move, and landed on the ground in a crumble of legs, arms, and wings. When they crashed to the ground Devimon showed himself. The boy was defenseless, and his Faeries had spent the last of their energy. In a flash he destroyed them. The boy was of no use to him or anyone else now. He would die soon, he was too young to survive in this world by himself, so he left him.

The boy had swore revenge against him. Soon the boy Devimon had learned of as Ant had become Shūri, the only person who was able to destroy his plots by not fighting him directly.

Devimon slams his fist down. "Curse that brat!" He screams. His smile is wicked as he sees a shimmer of blue and white buzz past him. He snatches the yellow shimmer from the sky and stares down at him. It had taken him years to find them, but he knew they would come in handy soon enough, if only he could get them to Digivolve past their champion levels. "How does it feel to be my personal slave, Faeriemon?"

It stares up at him with blank eyes. "Very pleasing Master." It tells him in a droning voice.

"Master," the other says, buzzing in his ear, "your meal is ready."

"Bring it to me!"

"Master!" ShadowFaeriemon screams, showing a sign of will still left in him, "Together we're both too small to bring it!"

"Then turn to Selenmon!"

"I have no idea what that is, master." He looks to his twin brother. "We'll get your other servants to bring it." In a buzz he flies off, showing only a blur of silver hair and black.

Devimon closes his fist around Faeriemon, squeezing him. It didn't yell, he never screams. He throws the insect sized monster. Even when he had been with the insolent brat Ant he would never show his pain, unless it was emotional. He would cry, he would show joy, but he never screamed in anguish. It was one of the reasons Devimon had wanted him so badly. Now they were both domestic servants for him, the most they did was spy for him. He wanted Astromon, the second most powerful monster in the land.

The second. Not true. Without the Empress he was the most powerful, and there is no current Empress. She had destroyed herself five years ago, and no one had found her yet. He had always thought it stupid and arrogant to destroy ones self, but she always came back more powerful then before, and always in a new form. She was the Phoenix of the Digitalworld.

He looks off towards the huge double doors. A table has been set up, and his servants brought in food. He hears the dual buzzing of the two Faeriemon. They're giving orders to the others. ShadowFaeriemon buzzes back to him. "Your meal…" He pauses, starring at Devimon with absolute hatred. "Master." He spits the word out, absolutely despising the monster he calls master.

Devimon's servants disappear, all but the two Faeriemon and Myotismon. Myotismon stands at the end of the t able, waiting for his leader to come. Devimon does come and sit, followed by Myotismon.

"We'll come back later." ShadowFaeriemon hisses as he flies from the room.

Faeriemon stars at him, blankness in his eyes. He flies upwards to the dangling chandelier. "Star Burst!" he yells. Light dances off the walls, providing just enough to create the illusion of warmth. "Good night, Master." He says, disappearing from the room.

He feels himself get hit then. "Why do you do that?" ShadowFaeriemon's voice burns with anger and his eyes show the hatred of the night. "He abuses us, and you won't fight against him with me."

Faeriemon shoves him off. "We can't. We're too small, and you know that we can't go any higher then champion without Ant." Faeriemon starts down the hall. "Soon Devimon will be mad at Myotismon. Ain't you heard? Myotismon lost Ant's essence. Without that we can't reach the levels that he wants."

"We can leave and find Ant. We can defeat him then!"

Faeriemon turns on his brother. "No we can't! The only time he can control us is when we're in sight of him. If we go and find Ant we can Digivolve again."

"Exactly! We can take him out without a problem!"

"No we can't. If we Digivolve higher and he finds us he gets exactly what he wants. He gets Soltarmon, Selenemon, and, if we feel the threat, Astromon. We've been through this before. We stay here to protect Ant. If you want to go and find Ant then go." His green eyes blaze. "But when you come back to destroy Devimon you'll be his. He'd never let you out of his sight again. By trying to save Ant, you would destroy him."

"Faerie, he tries to kill you. He squeezes you with his hand."

"I sit in his palm. The hand has an opening in it. Don't you remember Ant doing it to us, to hide us from that man? Devimon has a larger space. Fay, we really are as different as night and day. You simply want to destroy Devimon, I want to protect our Antie."

They hear a scream. "Myotismon must have told him." Faerie smiles. "LadyDevimon had been protecting the door, but it was Myotismon that was supposed to protect the essence." He looks at his brother. "See, I have been helping Ant."

"How?"

"I hid in Myotismon's ear, acting as Myotismon's free will. I told him what to do, after I buzzed LadyDevimon for awhile to throw off her concentration. Sometimes in order to help you have to take the chance of not being noticed."

ShadowFaeriemon flies silently behind his twin. Faeriemon had always been the louder one, the one that thought things through. ShadowFaeriemon's darker nature had always made him want to be noticed for standing up. He was given the credit for thinking while Faerie always got credit for being the stupid one with a big mouth. "You're right." He finally says.

"I'm always right." Faerie tells him. Faerie sighs. They have this conversation every time Devimon uses them. Fay always gets his temper raging and forgets the reason they stay.

Faerie will have his revenge, and he'll let Fay take the credit for it. His thoughts never go too far past protecting his best friend.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

This is one of the things that Matt could get used to. He would openly admit, it's odd to be patrolling the Digiworld without Gabumon, but flying on a dragon is the best ride he's ever experienced, at least in the air. He would never trade Gabumon for anything, but flying on Tsumi was something he would never be able to duplicate. She cut the air more than simply flying through it.

He and Tai had been here for nearly a week already. He told his mother that he and Tai had went to a concert and he'd probably just go back to his dad's when it was over. He hadn't told David anything. The last time he'd talked to his father he was told that he'd be working late again. This worked in Matt's alibi beautifully. He could be gone two months, and his parents wouldn't talk, and if they did David wouldn't be able to tell Nancy where he was if he was at home. Tai had had an argument with his dad. At the moment, if it wasn't for Gennai, Tai would be homeless. It's happened before, but most of the time he just asked Nancy if he could stay with her for a few days, but this time it was different. Tai said he would not go back there. Matt had decided himself lucky after that. His dad wasn't home enough to argue with, and if he did get in a fight with him, his parents were divorced, he could move in with Mom.

Something catches Matt's eye. "Tsumi!" he screams, pointing downwards.

Tsumi sees it and dives. Matt wraps his arms around her neck as she slices towards the ground, and when she hits the earth shakes a little from her landing. Matt climbs down from her and runs towards through the trees, and comes out into a lake. He looks around. He's been here before. "Tsumi!" he calls, feeling uncomfortable as the memory comes smashing back onto him. "Tsumi!"

The girl appears, her long legs bare and breasts so white they almost glow. For a moment he can only stare. She gives the appearance of being made of porcelain, except for the two skulls inked into her breast. Matt looks away. She insists on being happier naked then in the clothes provided for them; he wishes she had brought some, it was getting difficult for him to look her in the eyes. "Do you see anything?"

"Not yet." He crouches on the ground, examining a small hole low in a tree. He can hear a low noise, but can't place what it is, or its location. Something rustles in the bushes, before he can move Tsumi's there.

"Get away!" The yell is a squeaking noise, almost too high to be a voice.

Matt screams. "Tsumi, move!" He's not sure if anyone else could have heard that yell.

Something white bursts from the bushes. It seems like time moves in slow motion for Matt. The giant horse-like creature exploded from the bush and Tsumi falls, after the huge black hoof hits her in the head. He hears, more then sees, something dart past his ear and straight up towards Unimon. Matt runs to Tsumi and pulls her into a sitting position.

"Tsumi." He whispers over and over, stroking her hair. He looks up, Unimon still flies just above. Matt grunts and lays her body carefully on the ground. "UNIMON!" There's no response. Anger courses through his veins. "Howling-" he starts to scream.

"No!!" a small insect appears at his nose. "Don't. hurt him."

Matt grabs the bug. "What are you?" Staring at it from a distance he can see that it has bluish wings.

"I'm a Digimon," he says in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Faeriemon. You need to listen to me. Unimon is not himself right now. Give me a few minutes to finish up, and I'll explain everything to you."

Matt stares up at Unimon. He'd never had a personal problem with the Digimon before. "I'll give you ten minutes."

Without a word the insectoid creature disappears and Unimon lands moments later. Matt sits next to the girl, and checks for a pulse. Nothing, but then he's not surprised somehow. Blood has already dried into her hair, and the flow has slowed.

"Matt?"

He looks. Unimon stares down at him. "Why?"

"Unimon," comes the noise, "go. I'll deal with Matt."

With a nod of his head and a few flaps of his wings he flies into the sky and vanishes. The bug disappears. "Faerimon?"

"I'm here." The voice echoes in his ear. "In your ear. I'm one of the Faerie Digimon, we're hard creatures to find, some believe we don't even exist, but we do and there are a lot of us. We're fast, and masters of hiding, of course our small size aids in that… and the fact that no Faeriemon looks alike. For the last several years my brother and I have been pawns of Devimon, but he can't use us in the way he wants, and he can't have total control of us. See, Devimon has a new technique that he started devolving just months after he created his black gears. He can reprogram Digimon for his own version of the mind control. I come here to re-reprogram them. Since I'm so small I can get right into them and fix the problem, but if I get disturbed before I'm finished then I lose control and have to start over. Unimon was hiding because I told him to, but I wasn't there exactly so when she came up it startled him back to Devimon… but he's okay now."

"What about Tsumi?"

"She's digital… in a few minutes she'll come back."

"No one is ever going to believe me."

"I need to get back before Devimon suspects something of me."

"Wait. Tell me about Myotismon, what does he do in all this?"

"Myotismon found Devimon as an egg and waited for him to hatch. When you destroyed him Devimon had just reached his in-training form. After Devimon had became Devimon again Myotismon found him, only as BlackKitsunemon. He wanted to rejoin Devimon. Devimon does not like free-will, so he took him back and took his free will. Whatever Myotismon does, he cannot be blamed for it, though… he would have done it anyway, but it still isn't of his own choice." He flies about six inches above Matt's head. "Now, I must go. Good bye, Matt."

     

Matt and Tsumi had gotten back later then planned. Matt told what had happened, and all anyone could do was stare.

"A Faeriemon?" Shūri asks, almost laughing. "Those things are harder to find than a needle in a hay stack and when you do find them you never know if it's telling the truth or not."

"I believe it. It really fixed Unimon!"

They look to Tsumi. "Is it true?" Roma asks.

Tsumi shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. Whatever hit me hit hard… I was out for awhile."

"Seriously!" Matt groans. "It was really small, with blue wings… and orange hair, big green eyes, feelers, and yellow clothes."

Shuri stands. "Matt, if you want to believe in Faeries, go ahead. I have work to do… by the way, I made you an extra weapon… it works like MetalGarurumon's Metal Wolf Claw. Yes, it's a rocket launcher, essentially." Without another word he disappears back into his room, where he knows no one can see him cry.

Shūri drums his fingers on his desk. His device is round, and the different crest symbols carved deep into the metal. He's made it into a game. So far the main pieces have been made, and the activation code decided. He works tirelessly on the motor of it. He gives a half hearted laugh. It will just about take a genius to figure out his device, or someone with a lot of good luck, lucky for them he is a genius. It's a round Rubix Cube, the crests standing in for colors. He looks over them again, double checking to make sure he has complete perfection. Light plays at the top, Hope at the bottom, Reliability, Love, Sincerity, Friendship, Courage, and Knowledge circle around it. Only the crests that survive would go onto it, since once destroyed they have no use in this world.

He lays the shell down, still having a lot of carving to do on it. He worked on that for a week straight, and now he can't concentrate on it. He can feel the tears running down his face. Matt's description was vague, but Shūri knows it was his Faerie. He had accepted the fact that they were dead, and now to be told they weren't shocks him. He's looked for them for so long without any luck, and now Devimon has them. Just having Faeriemon back would make him the happiest man on the earth, but how to get him was the problem.

"Why hasn't he came to me?" he asks himself. He stares at the device he's been working on. "Maybe… they like Devimon better… I never was good at the Digidestined thing anyway." He wraps his hands on the desk and lays his head into them. "I was seven. What the hell did I know?" He cries.

He hears the door open. "Are you hungry, Shūri?"

"No." He sits up and grabs some pieces of his device. "I'm working." He's silent as he hears the door close.

"What's wrong?" Her hands sit on his shoulders.

"Sammi…" He kisses her hands softly. He's never been able to describe why he's felt so strongly for her. She's human shaped, most of the time, but she's still digital information. "I'm a stupid little fucker…"

"No." She squeezes herself between his body and his desk onto his lap. "You're a good man. A very good man, and trust me, you're not _that_ little." Her grin is small, and her eyes look nearly black. She runs her hands through his pale hair. "Now, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing you can help with."

"Shūri, I might not be able to help, but you can tell me. I told you about my flaws…"

"Hey, I like that birthmark." He grins at her. On her upper left thigh she has a red-violet mark in the shape of a long flower, or sun, and her eyes were suppose to have been the color of ice. Her programmers believed she'd acquired a virus from the web and was unable to fix her minor imperfections, which he liked more than what she could have been. Finally he sighs. "Okay. Faeriemon… Matt saw my Faeriemon."

She stares at him. Her look is soft and unsure. "Your Faeriemon?"

"Yes. I lost him when I was seven. Him and ShadowFaeriemon…" He points towards his arm, where the names and crests have been tattooed in. "Faeriemon was just Faerie and ShadowFaeriemon was Fay… Devimon destroyed them."

Sam wraps her arms around him. "You were DigiDestined…"

"Yeah." He pulls from her and stares into her deep eyes. "My name is Anthony Damian, and I came here to run away from my… father." His eyes are dark and his tone full of hatred. "I'm weak. I changed my name so I could forget about it all."

"Tell me."

He nods. "It started when I was younger…"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The boy hid. His father raised his hand to the other boy. The boy was only nine, and already felt that he needed to protect the younger, his brother by adoption. "Anthony, get upstairs." He yelled. He hears the dreadful smack of hand hitting face.

He darted upstairs, away from the man he called father. Even at such a young age, six, he already had his secrets. Some just from outsiders of the family, his abusive father, his adoption, others from the inner family, his incredible grasp of numbers, up to a seventh grade level easily, of course his brother knew about that. His biggest secret was the egg that he had watched hatch from his father's computer.

At first he thought he was seeing things, but when he started to walk away they made noises after him. They were green in color and sucked pacifiers. They reminded him of soap bubbles taken on a form. After weeks of caring for them they had changed twice. The forms they stayed in were faeries, and he became quickly attached to them.

When his brother was away at school, they were there for him, when he needed to talk, or cry, they were there for him, and always ready to play. He couldn't say he was ever happy, but they keep him from an early depression. Most of the time he was just scared, but he somehow knew that nothing would happen to him.

As the year went on his brother turned ten, and the fighting grew worse. His mother never said anything, he wasn't sure if she even knew. She'd always cared for her children, though they weren't actually hers, but she seemed out of it most of the time. One time the youngster remembered watching the man put something into her drink, but what it was he couldn't even begin to guess.

His brother's appearance became worse, and hospital visits became frequent. He fell out of a tree, down the stairs, terribly clumsy boy is how he was described, Ant knew different. He might have went down the stairs a few times, but not once was it an accident, and if he did jump from the tree he was doing it to kill himself.

He can still remember the last words he ever heard him say. "Ant, I've been keeping something from you… and you need to know it now." From his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief. "This is yours. I should have given them to you sooner, but I didn't think you were ready. A man came to me and told me you were special." He'd opened the handkerchief then. A necklace was wrapped around a small device that reminds him of a tiny video game.

"What is it?"

"I think he called the necklace a tag, it's double sided by the way, nothing in either, and the other thing he called a Digivice. Be careful, and don't tell anyone about it, especially _him_." Ant nodded. "Promise me, Anthony." He nods. "I need to hear it. Promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

"I promise." They wrapped each other in a tight hug. Nothing would ever be the same.

Two days later his brother disappeared. Ant was scared, and not even his Faeries could snap him from it. Whenever he saw his father he'd run off to hide. Slowly a week passed, the police were out looking for his brother. His father, though he acted concerned and distraught in public never showed it at home. Finally they found the body of the ten year old boy. His red hair was soaked in blood, his body was bruised and it was reported that he had several broken bones, but died through strangulation.

Ant ran, and swore he'd never return. He and the Faeries ran to the Digital world. He'd become accustomed to the life, and his Digimon had Digivolved to higher levels, after he had ran up on his two crests.

The first time he met Devimon he was overpowered. His Faeries were only able to go up to Champion. They had fought gallantly, but in the end he was too strong against them. In the end Devimon had his dominance displayed in a tearful exhibit. Ant fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face, and begged to have his friends saved. At the time he had been thinking small and let them go. The second time they meet the Faeries had wiped him out. The third time he destroyed them.

The child wandered around for days before he was discovered by the old man. Gennai took him and raised him from that point on. Their relationship wasn't exactly father and son, it was more like apprentice and master. He'd changed his name the moment he met Gennai, and started learning all he could about the Digital World. He learned quickly, and retained a natural curiosity, with an abundance of energy. As time passed his need for revenge faded. The DigiDestined had destroyed Devimon, nothing more could be done.

Now the urge for revenge has returned. The monster has stolen his being, kidnapped the Chosen Digimon, and once again is destroying the Digital World to make it his own.

Shūri slams his fist onto the desk. "I won't allow it, Sam. I won't." His eyes are dark, reflecting an almost primitive, uncontrollable rage. "He has my Digimon, and I will make sure he's destroyed. If it takes every ounce of life in me I will make sure that those DigiDestined have what it takes to destroy him… for the final time." Sam stares into his face. She knows he's looking right past her, and it scares her. She's never seen him so angry, nor does she ever want to see it again.

"Ant." She calls softly. "Ant? Are you in there?" She strokes his pale hair for a brief moment in time, just before she gives it a sharp tug to snap him from his trance.

"What?" He stares down at her, his eyes growing soft once more. "Just trying to figure out a way to store digital information… I was thinking about something similar to the device used in 'Ghostbusters,' but I can't figure out a way to do it… yet." He stares off into space once again, this time staring and something hanging on his wall, and he began a slow grin.

"Anthony, what's wrong?"

He snapped from his trance-like state and stared in shock at her. "You called me Anthony…"

"Well, that's your name, right?"

He nods. "Yeah, but you've never…"

"Known it before?" She smiles at him and kisses his lips gently. "Now, what were you thinking about?"

"Oh… You'll see later." His grin is mischievous. "You'll see…"

. . . . .

Gatomon sits, her tail twitching and her eyes distant. "They don't know what to do, Master." She says in a monotone voice. "The boy, Shuri, is trying to make a new dimensional transporter, before he creates the data-release."

Devimon smiles. "Good… If he does manage to destroy me the Digimon will carry out my work anyway."

"Sire," Gatomon adds, "he's also trying to create a way to banish you forever… much like the Empress can."

He stands now, seeming to grow twice his actual size. "Only the Empress can banish Digimon, and she's been gone for hundreds of years!"

"I believe he's thinking on the same wavelength as you… he wants to store your data…" She raises her hands to hide her face as he raises to strike. "But that's only a guess!"

"FAERIEMON!!" He demands.

"Yes, Master?" comes his high-pitched, currently droning, voice.

"You know that boy better than anyone else. Will he, and can he, do that?"

"Master, I feel that I must remind you, I knew him as a boy, not a man. As a child I feel that he had the knowledge to do it, but not the ability. As a man I couldn't harbor a guess." _I need to lie…_ he thought to himself. _But first I have to figure out a way to break his mind-control from myself…_

"Gatomon, return to them. Keep watching them, tell me everything."

"Yes, Master." She bounds off.

"And Faeriemon,"

"Yes?"

"Start preparing my army. Soon, we attack."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Tai stands strong outside. His body is tense as he closes his eyes and focuses on the Nova blast he can feel building up inside his body. The long, vicious claws extend as he raises his arms up high. "Think… baseball…" He tells himself softly. "Nova," he feels the energy running from inside of him, up to his armor clad hands, "Force!" he screams. He glances up and sees the huge ball of orange. His first thought is of a piece of the sun in his hands. In fear he throws the ball across the field, where it promptly hits a small tree and explodes. Tai falls to the ground and shivers thinking of the sheer energy he was just holding in his hands. In haste he pulls the claws of WarGreymon off and sets them on the ground. He stares down at them then turns his gaze to the mirrored water.

He studies his own face. Once he saw the face of a child, but that faded away years ago. Now he sees the face of a strong young man. "But I feel like a lost child." His coffee colored eyes hold a depth missing in most young adults. He's tall, 6'7" easily, with broad shoulders, and pounds of muscle. Without any difficulty he could be a football player; he's been told many times, but he absolutely hates the American sport.

He splashes his own reflection, unable to accept the weakness he feels underneath the brave face. He picks the claws back up and stares at them blankly. "Might as well try again… maybe something simpler…" As he places the armor back on the thinks about Agumon's attack. "Pepper Breath!" He's silent as nothing happens. "What…"

Then he feels something working in the back of his throat. It burns hotter than lava. The giant claws fall from his arms and clash onto the ground as he grasps his throat. Slowly it works its way up into his mouth and shoves its way through. The force of the power leaving him from his mouth knocks him back onto the ground. He watches the smaller ball of fire fly across the field and disappear. He still holds his throat, eyes wide, his tanned skin slowly losing its color.

Finally he croaks, "I miss Agumon." He rocks himself back and forth, deep thoughts swirling around in his mind. His breathing is shallow as he tries to calm himself and focus. "Come on, Tai, pull it together. What would Agu say?"

Gatomon appears, sitting in front of him, tail swishing. "He'd probably say not to worry, everything will work out fine."

Tai stares into her eyes. He can sense something wrong, but he can't tell exactly what. "You seem different, Gatomon."

She stares at him. "What do you mean, Tai?"

"I-"

"Practicing?" He looks back and sees Roma, watching him intently. "Or do you prefer the term 'in-training'?" She laughs.

"I was taking a break." He tells her, standing up.

She narrows her gaze, expressing her disappointment. Whether that disappointment was directed at him or Gatomon he couldn't be sure. "Well, you should be practicing." She leaped straight up. "Until you can at least defeat me, you don't stand a chance against Devimon."

He stands stalk still, watching the horn grow from her forehead and begin to glow in a rainbow of colors. As she comes back to earth a colorful ball of energy forms in her hands. When she lands she swiftly moved her right hand, sending the energy zooming past his head, nearly hitting his ear. He turns to watch it fly several feet away and explode in a pulsating, bomb-like blast. He swung his head back to look at her, his mouth open to speak, but no words forming. She was crouches in an attack position, her hands visible, fingers moving slightly, nails, and tip of horn, glowing in varying colors. "Well, do you think you can beat me?"

"What _**ARE**_ you?"

"A Unicorn Mage Healer, honestly, the weakest of the three of us. I have enough magic to defend myself in battle, more then enough to heal hundreds of people, at once, but not enough to defeat a particularly strong opponent."

He glances to where Gatomon was, she's gone now. He bows his head in defeat. "I can't control the power."

She drops her stance as she stares at him. "I thought you were the leader of the DigiDestined."

"I was… well, for my group anyway. Davis and his gang had a much harder time than me."

"No, I refuse to believe that. I watched him, and you; somewhat anyway. The second group came and went as they wanted. You were forced to stay in this world, without a true guide, for months. For days your group would go with very little food." She stares deep into his eyes. "Let us help you."

"Who? You and who else?"

"My sister. If Tsumi can't help you no one can. There's only two things she was designed for, and she's very good with both. The first being fighting."

"What's the second?'

"That one's hard to explain. It's something about making guys 'go wild in the pants.'" She shrugs. "Whatever that means."

Tai looks at her, trying his hardest not to laugh. "Okay," he says, grinning. "I'll let you help, mind I can already fight… its controlling Agumon's power that's getting me."

"So, what do you think? Should we try it?" Shūri's voice floats over to their ears. Tai glances in that direction. Shūri and Sam seem to magically appear from the lake, a sight Tai will never get use to, and Shūri is holding a small, but heavy, looking ball. Excitement pours from him like a child on Christmas morn.

She smiles. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Well, it should be put to a trial run…"

"By ourselves?"

She punches him on the arm. Although her actions seem almost harsh Tai sees the way she looks at him. She stares at him like he's the only person that matters in the world. Her look is that of true love, and Tai suddenly finds himself wishing that she'd look at him like that; that _someone_ would look at him like that, or at the very least, he could look at someone like that. She mouths 'I love you,' to him. Tai looks away, aware that only Shūri was suppose to see it.

"Tell me about them."

"What?"

"How long have they been together?"

They are unaware that they are being watched. Crouching in the underbrush is Gatomon, quietly awaiting for something to report, and in the skies is Faeriemon, watching the only creature that ever seemed to fully understand him.

He sighs, sadness overwhelming his tiny frame. "Anthony…" He says softly. "I'll return one day…." He smiles sadly, a single tiny tear running down his petite cheek. "At least you have someone to protect you."

"Okay," Shūri's voice floats up to his ears, "we'll try it. Someone has to try it, you know, to make sure it won't scramble any data or DNA in the transfer."

Tai turns to look, as does Gatomon. Faeriemon even flies closer to the ground for a better look.

"How's it work?" Sam asks, pushing some hair from her face.

"It's actually quit simple."

"Go on."

"Well, have you ever played with a Rubix cube?"

"Let's pretend I know what that is."

"Of course… not something needed in violent video games, huh?"

"Don't make fun."

" Sorry, but I'm not making fun of you. Anyway, do you see all of the symbols painstakingly carved into the metal?" She nods. "Well, can you see anything familiar in them?"

"Nope."

"Hmm… well, when fully together they form the crests of the DigiDestined. As you can see, this one is… round, making it much more difficult… you know, so that no one that shouldn't get it can use it."

"Ahh… and what of the people who should be able to use it?"

He grinned, looking plenty full of himself. "They've got me." His words, though somewhat vain, are true.

"And if something is to happen to you?" She stared at him with wide eyes that glittered in the sunlight.

"I told Gennai the secret, and he hid the information in a safe place."

"I don't want you to do it." Her words are firm and she meets his eyes with a hard stare.

"What?"

"You said there's a chance of your DNA getting scrambled. I don't want you to take that chance." Her eyes spoke louder than her voice, and her full heart could be seen through the bright violet orbs.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's safe." He takes a step away from her and begins to twist the joints around the sphere.

It seemed to be slow motion that Sam and Faeriemon watched him twist the pieces, forming the eight crests that belonged to each Digidestined. When each crest was complete the ball floated into the air, the metal seeming to disappear. Only the crests, in a spherical shape, remained, glowing in the color each crest is known to be.

"Incredible." Shūri says, staring at it in awe.

Sam shakes her head. "Don't…" She whispers. "Don't."

"I'll be fine." He says, grinning gleefully, as he reaches for the crests.

"I said no!" she shrieks, reaching for his hand. Her hand passes through the clear barrier as his reaches the floating crest of Courage.

Tai and Roma stare, unsure what to do. Faeriemon races upwards, away from the growing, glowing crests.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The two fall hard, landing on blacktop. The metal ball lands there a moment later. Sam bites back the pain rushing up from her knees. "Where are we?" Sam asks, ready to yell at her betrothed.

Shūri looks around, seemingly uninjured. "I think it worked." He stands, the knees of his jeans ripped, but no visible injuries. "I believe that we're in Tokyo."

"Oh, great. Tokyo." She stands, and immediately goes back to the ground as the pain in her knees rush her. This is a new experience for her. One both pleasing and pestering. "Ant, what's wrong with me?"

He smiles. "Nothing. If I can survive that fall, without a scratch then your digital warrioress self should be able to." He stares up at the buildings, having forgotten how extreme and tall they are.

She stares at her legs, watching the red liquid slowly ooze from her knees, soaking the fabric of her Capri's. "Are you sure?" she asks, pulling a small pebble from the scraped knee.

"Of course." He answers, looking up at the screen, which has a dancing blue smiley face on it.

"Help me up." She says, more as a way of getting his attention than anything else.

"Huh? Oh, of course." He turns to her and reaches his hands to help her up. He stops, his hands falling to his sides. "My Empress… what happened to your knees?" He crouches beside her, looking carefully at the blood. "Sam, I've never seen you bleed before."

"Huh, never bleed? I've never felt this sensation before. It is very bothersome."

"Pain?… oh fuck."

Sam tilts her head to the side, still staring at her knees. "It should be healing already."

Shūri grabs her arms and pulls her to her feet. "We need to get out of sight." He looks around, his long hair flying out behind him. His mind raced, he could see the troubles they would encounter in this world. The last time he was here was when he was very young, and she had never been in this place. "Can you walk?"

"No problem, my knees just feel… odd."

"Yeah, that's known as pain."

"Like that time I bit you?" She looked at him like a sneaky cat. "How you howled and complained…"

"No, that wasn't pain, and I wasn't complaining! I was in grievance!" He glances at her quickly, as he does another look around for a place to hide. "You cause me a lot of pangs, know that?" He grabs her hand as he sees an alleyway across the street. "Come on." He pulls her along behind him, with her grabbing the transporter, him dodging dozens of people, and they then dunk into the alleyway.

"Ant?"

He crouches in the alleyway, staring at the concrete on the ground. "Sammi, I don't want to startle you but… I think my DNA and your data may have… exchanged places."

She half laughed at him. "What?"

"Have you been injured a day in your life?"

"Of course. When someone lost the game-"

"No. I mean have you ever openly bled, like that?" He points to her knees.

"Well…no. Usually the skin just recovers and everything is healed in seconds."

"Exactly. This time you get blood on your clothes and I walk away without a scratch. Sam, think about it. You're a _smart_ girl!"

"Ant, I don't think that's possible." She rolls her eyes. "If you got my data you'd be able to take my creature form, and I wouldn't."

"Can you?" He asks, quirking his eyebrow.

She gives him a smug look. "Can you? Clear your mind and think about flight and having mighty wings." She says it with knowledge that there would be no way for him to acquire her wings.

He closes his eyes, letting his mind go blank. He thought about the feeling he gets when he flies on Sam or Tsumi's back. He felt the wings sprouting from his back, growing, becoming heavier and heavier. He hears a shriek and opens his eyes to see Sam's pale, scared face.

"No." She says. "No. If you're… then that makes me…"

"Human." He states, trying to look at the long, black, feathered wings coming from his shoulder blades.

Tai and Roma raced towards the force field that was engulfing the two lovers. Faeriemon flew downwards, trying to beat the shield. The three reach the area at the same time, all too late and grasping for the two missing people.

"SAM!!" Roma screams, spinning around on her heels.

"ANT!!" Faeriemon yells at the top of his lungs, hovering in front of Tai.

Tai stares at the small, insect sized creature. "Faeriemon?"

The creature freezes and slowly turns to look at Tai. "How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess." He tells the Faerie just before he grabs it in one hand. "Ro, let's go tell Gennai, he seemed interested when this guy was mentioned."

Gatomon follows them stealthily into the house, knowing that she had to get Faeriemon back, or report it to Devimon. Both perhaps. She steps softly, keeping close to her targets, and listening intently. "Can you believe this? Have you ever seen one of these guys?"

"No… I was under the impression that they didn't exist."

Tai wanted to look at the tiny monster he holds in his hands, but he fears that he'll lose him if he attempts it. He can feel it buzzing about in his hands, and pushing against his palms. The size of the creature made it no problem for Tai to hold as it squirmed and pushed. "Hey, you." He said into his hand. "Stop it. You're going to see Gennai if I have to pin you down to Styrofoam by your wings." He knows that his words sound mean, but it was a precaution, if the bug keeps pushing against his palm might close his hand and squish him.

"Gennai!" Roma calls. "Tai's caught something! And Shūri and Sam are gone!" Gennai appears from behind a closed door.

"Now what's going on?"

Tai looks around, making sure there is no possible way for the small creature to escape. "Okay, Shūri and Sam disappeared. When we got there all that was there was this." He opens his hand out to Gennai, showing the small, insect sized, Digimon.

It stared up at him, its large, green eyes staring up at him helplessly. The turquoise wings flittered slightly as he searched for a way to escape. Gennai studies the creature, a small smile playing on his lips. "Faeriemon!" he says laughing. "How good to see you! Where's your brother?" The creature stares at him, the only indication of him being alive is the subtle rustling of his wings. "You know Ant's been missing you… he's changed a lot, you know." The creature doesn't speak, but stares up with his empty eyes. "Gatomon got your tongue?"

His wings buzz quickly and he lifts up from Tai's hand and flies around the room in a scared escape attempt. "Should I-" Tai started.

"No." Gennai says softly. "Let him fly around. He'll eventually wear himself out."

Gatomon sits, her eyes following the tiny, imprisoned assistant to Devimon. She glances at the humans. They are talking to each other, ignoring her and the faerie. She leaps up, wrapping her paws around him. "Devimon is going to love this." She purrs.

A sharp pain flies up her tail, causing her to throw her arms up. "Let it go." Tsumi says solemnly. Her green eyes stare down in disgust. Gatomon pulls her tail out from under Tsumi's foot and glares at her.

"What do you care?"

"I don't." She snares at the cat monster. "I just really hate you. I don't trust you, and I want you to leave, but you don't care about that either." She makes a move towards Gatomon, but she turns and races off. Tsumi rolls her eyes. "Stupid cat…"

Tsumi sits on the couch, with one leg pulled up close to her body. "So now you're letting everyone bring strays, Gennai?"

Tai looks at the dragon girl. He can't decide if she's always been so uncaring and cruel, or if she's seen so much it's changed her. He glances at Gennai, then at Roma. Both look at each other, begin to speak and leave him alone. "Tsumi?" Tai asks.

She glances at him. "What?"

"Be kind to him." She hears buzz in her ear. Faeriemon had taken refuge there, until he was sure that Gatomon had left. He is now faced with a strong decision to make. Race back to Devimon as fast as his wings will carry him and lie when Gatomon got there, or stay here and break the news that his "loyal mindservants" weren't entirely in his control. "He means well."

Tsumi wonders if Faeriemon can read minds, but somehow doubts it. So she keeps the thought to herself and scowls at Tai. "What is it?"

He smiles at her. "I just want to talk."

She studies his face. She'd classify him as a stereo-type of the classic 'perfect' man. Tall, easily topping six and a half feet, dark, from dark brown hair, to deep brown eyes, and tanned skin, not to mention handsome, with deep-set eyes, long, silky hair, boyish smile, and over two hundred pounds of sheer muscle. She could easily see herself sleeping with him, but not start a serious relationship. Men are important to her, but she thinks of him more as a child then a man. "Then speak."

"I mean, with you."

"I have nothing to discuss with you."

"You're acting like we're fighting or something…"

"Tsumi." Comes the voice in her ear. "Be nice. I think he likes you."

She wanted to yell at the voice in her head, but she wasn't sure if it was herself telling her this, or Faeriemon, but she was betting on Faeriemon. "I don't know you, how am I suppose to act?"

"Be kind and courteous!" the voice nearly screams in her ear. Definitely Faeriemon she decides.

"Why are you so mean?"

She glares at him. "I'm not mean; I'm cautious."

He can't help but study her. Her emerald eyes shine in brilliance, and dark hair makes them pop out from her ivory skin. He would easily call her the prettiest of the three girls, with perfect curves and a beautifully sculptured face. Thus, he finds himself falling under the pressure of her look. "Whatever you say…"

"Don't you st- what? Are you agreeing with me?"

He nods. "Yes… to be honest you scare me."

"I do?" She finally smiles at him. "I like that." She turns towards him, putting her knees up on the couch and her hands on Tai's chest. There was one part of her that wished she could turn off her nymphomania ways, but there was so much of her that enjoyed it she didn't care.

She kissed at his Adam's apple, licked up the side of his neck, and began to use her tongue to play with his. For a moment Tai sits, unsure of what to do, but finally embraces her in his arms and pushes her back onto the couch so that she stares up at him. She wraps her legs around his waist as he begins to explore her body more with his hands.

"NO!!" Comes the squeaky voice in her ear. "Stop!"

Almost as if he heard the faerie in Tsumi's ear he stops and whispers, "No." He sits up and moves away from her, breaking apart the hold she held with her legs. "I… I can't."

She stares at him in confusion. She's never gotten anyone lost in her sexuality and then have them break out of it. "What? Why not?"

"Because I'm not that kind of guy… Don't think I don't want to… it's just wrong to do." He nods, and stands quickly so he can get away from her. "God, would I love to…" He turns and leaves the room, going outside to catch his breath.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Matt sits among the branches, staring at nothing and playing the blues on his harmonica. He knows what he saw earlier, yet no one believes him. The music helps him concentrate, and think through the numbness of his mind. He goes over every detail in his mind for the hundredth time. It was small, about the height of a starburst, with turquoise wings, big green eyes, orange hair and skinny antennae. He can still hear the high pitched voice of the creature.

"_For the last several years my brother and I have been pawns of Devimon…"_ Matt can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to be under the control of someone like that. The Digimon spoke so sensibly Matt couldn't bring himself to believe it not telling the truth. With a sigh he places his harmonica into a pocket of his Gabumon fur coat. His fingers touch something cold and heavy. The blaster that Shūri had made for him. He pulls it from his pocket and stares at it. It was metallic, the same color as MetalGarurumon. At first glance it looked like something out of a bad science fiction movie, and upon inspection it looked slick, and shiny, something straight from the future.

"_It doesn't hold power for anyone else, only you."_ He had grinned with mischief which was beaten only by his enthusiasm. "_Well, with the coat anyway. After all, you'd look pretty silly shooting something like the Giga missiles from your mouth… well, stomach would be the actual location."_ He had laughed then, at a joke Matt still didn't understand. "_It would kill you, wouldn't it?"_

Matt sighs, and wonders about the potential in this unreal looking weapon. With a shrug he aims at distant rock. "Giga Missile!" The words felt funny in is mouth, but he had no time to wrap his tongue completely around them before he felt himself being thrown back, out of the trees, because of the projection. He felt himself fall, and his head hit against the moist soil that surrounded the lake. He shoved the weapon back into the pocket of Garurumon's fur as he leaped back to his feet, looking at the spot, a rock, he had aimed at. "Damn." He explains staring at the spot where it once had been.

"Yeah. Damn." He hears Tai's voice beside him. "Where'd you get that thing from?"

Matt looks at him. "Shūri gave it to me. I should really thank him. Any idea where he is?"

"No… Shūri and Sam both disappeared… in some kind of energy ball… thing." He drags in a strong breath and exhales it. "I know I should have waited and let Gennai tell you, but oh well. Oh, and that Faeriemon you said you saw?"

"Yeah?"

"He's here. In the house."

"So, I'm not crazy? I'm really not losing my mind?"

"Nope. Your mind is in check; it's me that should get my head examined."

Matt laughs. "Why?"

"Tsumi."

Matt becomes sober quickly, and looks out over the lake, wondering exactly where under the surface the house is hidden. "She doesn't need to mean anything to you… She's mean, whatever she said, disregard it."

Tai spits out a laugh. "Not that. She wants to have sex with me… I turned her down."

Matt snaps his head to look at him, and smirks. "You're right. You win. Get that head examined."

Shūri thinks back. His only good memory of this world being the day he met Faerie and Fay. He lets himself slump to the ground as the memories come flooding back to his mind. "You know…" He says softly. "There's a reason that I went to the Digiworld…"

"I know." She sniffles through tears.

He looks up at her. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm scared, Ant. I'm not meant for this world, and being human is hard."

"Yeah… but on the other hand, if you really wanted children now would be the time to do it." She buries her face into her knees, tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm sorry, babe." He tells her, moving to wrap his arms around her. "Everything's okay. I'll protect you. We can get back home with the…" He looks around. "Where's the dimensional transporter?"

"Here." Sam says, holding it up to him "I scooped it up when you pulled me away."

"Fabulous." He says, taking it into his hands. "Okay, now we can go home, see, no problem. I'm sure that as soon as we go back through the DNA and data will transfer back to their original bodies. Then, I'll fix it and everything will be okay." He nods. "Yeah, everything will be positively okay." He kisses her cheek gently. "You believe me, right?"

She wraps her arms around him. "Yea… I do."

"Good." He takes a step away from her and fixes the crests back to their original shapes.

Nothing happens. "Shit." He says, staring at his device with wide eyes and draining color.

"What's wrong?"

"The motor… yeah, it has to be the motor." He sits beside her. "I.. I can fix it. I know I can." She lays her head in his lap. "Wait…" She stares up at him. "Let me enjoy this human thing as long as I can…"

He wraps his arms around her. "You can enjoy while I'm fixing the transporter."

"I've never been human. You'll have to show me."

Absently he plays with her hair, his mind racing, wondering what he messed up in the transporter, and only half hearing what she was saying.

Devimon sits in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrests and pondering over where Faeriemon is. Usually the creature comes at his immediate call, this time however, it has not. Instead the brother has come to him. The smarter appearing, but by far the lazier. He hovers at attention, wings moving so fast they appear as no more than dark blue blurs. His eyes are unfocused as he stares out towards his master.

"Where is your brother?"

"I do not know. I have told you three times already. I haven't seen him all day."

"Don't lie to me!!"

"How can I lie? You did not program me to do so."

"I programmed you to change at my command as well, however, you refuse to turn to Selenemon."

"Wrong. I cannot Digivolve that high. I've tried, remember? Faeriemon tried turning to Soltarmon. We can't do it."

"Doesn't matter." Devimon mutters, more to himself than to anyone else. "Soon, I'll have the throne of the Empress. After all, there are only two DigiDestined now." He laughs, cold and vicious, making the small ShadowFaeriemon shiver. "I think I'll be a fabulous ruler, don't you, Fay?"

ShadowFaeriemon bares his teeth. "Don't call me that."

"What?"

"You have no right to call me Fay. Only Anthony and Faeriemon can call me Fay."

"_What_?!"

Fay breaths in. He knows he'll never have this chance again, and the fear of losing complete control of himself creeps over his body. "To you I am ShadowFaeriemon, and no, I do not think you'll be a good ruler. I think under your rule the entire Digiworld will be destroyed." After the words fully leave his mouth Fay realizes that he's able to speak his mind, and Devimon's power over him is nonexistent, though he had felt it only minutes before. Devimon reaches for the creature, only to have Fay dodge his grasp. "No! You have no more power over me!"

"You think you can destroy me?!" He screams, standing. "You can't digivolve!" He spits. "You're useless to me, and anyone else."

Fay flies up to Devimon, hovering between his eyes. "I don't need to destroy you. That's up to the DigiDestined, and if they can't do it, the Empress will." He spins quickly in the air and flies faster than his wings have ever carried him before. He barely notices the blurs as he zooms past, his only goal is to get out of the castle, into fresh air, and to find Anthony.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Roma sits silently on the couch, staring at the tiny creature, who is sitting eating off a plate that was set on the table just for him. Though the plate is small, a plate used for tea cups honestly, she knows he won't be able to eat it all.

"Faeriemon; is that what they call you?"

He nods. "That's my name!" He shouts, between large bites.

"So, you're under the control of Devimon?"

"No, not right now. Only when I'm near him."

"So you're a danger to us."

"Yeah, that's why I need to get back as soon as possible. I can only imagine what my brother's done by this point."

"ShadowFaeriemon?"

"That's right. Identical to me, except his coloration, and his attitude. We even have the same intelligence, not that we let that show through. Everyone thinks I'm the hyper dumb one, and he's the lazy smart one, but its not true… you know what, we aren't actually that much alike, now that I think about it."

She nods, hiding a smile. "You can help Digimon get over their mind control, right?" He nods. "Well, how different could healing a Digimon be than healing any other creature?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm a healer, you know that, right?" She gets a solemn nod from Faerie. "Maybe I could help you get over your loss of control."

"I don't think so." He says, staring down at a bit of carrot laying on the plate. "I'm not injured, I'm programmed wrong. In order for my programming to be set correctly I have to be reconfigured… and if it means I could be with Anthony again, I would do it."

"You know, he goes by Shūri now."

"Shūri…" Faeriemon nods. "Fits him. I hope he gets back soon… I've missed him for _sooo_ long."

Roma nods, still staring at the small creature. "You know he has a lady love?"

"A lady love? My Antie?" The creature giggles. "He really has grown up a lot, hasn't he?"

She imagines that Faerie must be at least as old as Shūri, but his voice is high pitched, more child like than anyone of his age. She notices him fidget, and she tries not to laugh. He stops eating and stares at her with concentrated eyes. "Do you have any Starburst?"

Sam stares at his back, at the place the wings that rightfully belong to her, had been. The back of his shirt had been ripped out, so he discarded it and stole a new one hours ago. The work he was doing now was slow, since he didn't have his usual amount of tools, or for that matter, all the parts he usually had. Finally she stands and moves from her sitting position several feet from the bench he is perched on. "Ant," She says laying her hand softly on his right shoulder blades, where one wing had been, "my stomach is grumbling at me."

He pauses. The thought had not occurred to him before this. In the Digitalworld Digimon have to eat to keep their energy level up: the girls are not Digimon. They never had to eat; they only ate because they liked the taste of the food. After his DNA was replaced with Sam's data, hunger pangs had not bothered him. "You're right…" He said, slipping the only tool he has, a small screwdriver that might be used to screw glasses, into the pocket of his jeans. "I'm sorry, I forgot. Sammi. You're hungry."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, we need some money, or we steal some food." He was looking around, scouting the area for the opportunity to do either. He tucked the small orb under his arm, and then grabbed Sam with his other hand. "Come on."

She walked beside him, feeling more sick than hungry. "Shūri…"

He glanced at her, giving her a grin. "I thought you were calling me 'Ant'."

"The name feels foreign in my mouth."

He nods. "I can understand that. You've always known me as Shūri."

"Right… Shūri, I don't feel well."

"You're just hungry." He noticed her usual bright violet eyes seemed to be fading, becoming darker. At the moment they were a dull navy blue, and within hours they would be black. However, he couldn't notice the blue fire his eyes had become, or the fact that they were becoming more purple than blue. Something was now inside of him, and had gone undetected by everyone since the first time Sam had been created.

ShadowFaeriemon flies as fast as he can. Remotely he can sense Faeriemon, and can usually fix on where Shūri is. Hours ago Shūri disappeared. He's certain that Shūri has crossed over to the human world and something has happened. In vein he tries to fly faster, but he's already moving faster than anyone can see.

"Faeriemon…" he calls softly. "I'm coming brother!"

Faeriemon's antennae flick upwards. "He's free. He's truly free!" Faerie shouts happily.

"Who?" Roma asks in alarm.

"My brother! Fay! ShadowFaeriemon! He's truly free! I can feel him!!" He bats his wings gently and seems to hover just above the table. "Quick! He's coming! I've got to get to the surface!" Before Roma's eyes the small creature started buzzing absently and flying around the room in search of an exit, seeming more like a small frantic animal than a Digimon. "How do we get out of here! Lets go up!" His buzzing grows steadily louder, until Roma can feel it vibrating in her head.

She reaches out and grabs him up in her hand to silence him. "Okay, I'll take you out, just stop that." Quickly Roma hurries herself through the underwater house and up to the surface. Once there she opens her hands and the tiny creatures flies straight up.

"Fay!" He calls out.

Roma stares around. She hears only Faeriemon's frantic buzzing. After what seems like an eternity she hears a harmony join Faeriemon's buzz. This buzz is deeper and more musical, but it is still a distinct buzz. She searches for the sound but is unable to find it, until she hears the double buzz on her shoulders.

"Roma!" Comes Faeriemon's high pitched voice. "This is my brother; ShadowFaeriemon."

"Nice to meet you, Roma. Have anything to eat?"


End file.
